US Announces Visa Restrictions on South Africa Two Days After BRICS Summit
Washington issued fresh visa restrictions targeting South African officials on Sept 15, two days after South African President Cyril Ramaphosa attended the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi as a full member of the eleven-nation bloc.
United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the new policy under Section 212(a)(3)(C) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, citing what Washington described as "racially motivated crime and government-sponsored discrimination" against Afrikaner and other minority populations in South Africa.
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| Image Source: @CyrilRamaphosa on X |
The announcement cited President Trump's Executive Order 14204, "Addressing Egregious Actions of the Republic of South Africa," and stated that the South African government had "not adequately addressed the previously laid out concerns." Certain family members of targeted individuals may also fall under the restrictions, according to the State Department statement.
Rubio said the actions being targeted "directly undermine peace, economic stability, and the rule of law, and they are incompatible with the pillars of America's foreign policy."
The South African government has not issued an immediate public response to the announcement as of this filing.
As @POTUS has made clear, the South African people are being failed by a government that is destroying its economy through an obsessive pursuit of racial grievance against the Afrikaner minority. The South African government has consistently failed to adequately address rural…
— Secretary Marco Rubio (@SecRubio) September 15, 2026
The timing is notable. Ramaphosa was in New Delhi on September 12 and 13 as a signatory to the New Delhi Declaration, which condemned in paragraph 22 what BRICS members described as "unilateral coercive measures" including secondary sanctions, calling for their elimination as contrary to international law and the Charter of the United Nations.