Pretoria hits back at US visa sanctions over race and land policies
The government has hit back at the US administration’s decision to impose visa restrictions on South Africans it claims are linked to South Africa’s race and land policies, accusing Washington of mischaracterising the country’s domestic affairs.
Pretoria warned that bilateral tensions should be resolved through diplomatic engagement.
Minister of international relations and co-operation Ronald Lamola said Pretoria had noted the restrictions “with concern”, and rejected what he described as the latest attempt by “fringe groups” to portray themselves as representatives of minorities and Afrikaners in general.
The US announced the restrictions on Tuesday, targeting “foreign nationals” it says who were “responsible for, or complicit in, laws or policies enabling uncompensated land seizures, race-based discrimination and the incitement of imminent violence against minority ethnic or racial groups”.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio said the South African government had failed to adequately address Washington’s concerns and warned that the US would not allow what it described as “such behaviour” to go unchecked.
Lamola said South Africa’s policies were rooted in the country’s constitutional obligation to address the legacy of apartheid and centuries of racial injustice. “It is our sovereign right to put in place laws that address the nation’s concern over centuries of racial injustice.”
He said legislation enacted since the dawn of democracy was intended to improve the position of people who had been excluded for centuries, arguing that this was consistent with the experience of other countries that had emerged from similar histories.
Lamola pointed to South Africa’s Prevention and Combating of Hate Crimes and Hate Speech Act, saying the legislation provided a legal framework to combat hate speech and prosecute hate crimes.