The United States has threatened to impose further measures on South Africa following its decision to restrict visas for some South African officials.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the visa restrictions on Wednesday, saying they would target South Africans “responsible for, or complicit in” implementing policies the US considers “egregious.”
US Ambassador to South Africa Brent Bozell later warned that the visa restrictions were only the first in a series of measures Washington planned to take against Pretoria.
“This visa restriction policy is only the first step in a series of escalatory measures that will show America’s firm resolve in this matter,” Bozell said.
He said the US was moving away from prolonged discussions with the South African government and was now taking action.
“The time for endless ‘dialogue’ has run its course. No more. America has just so much patience,” Bozell said.
He added that the US wanted “strong, and lasting relations” with South Africa but said Pretoria needed to show that it wanted the same.
“So far, it has shown it cares for neither. As a result, the consequences, as I’ve attempted time and again to express, are necessarily going to be severe,” he said.
Bozell did not disclose what further measures Washington might introduce.
US raises BEE, land laws
The visa restrictions are linked to US concerns over South Africa’s Black Economic Empowerment policies and land expropriation without compensation.
Rubio said South Africa had failed to adequately address concerns raised by Washington over the policies.
In March, Bozell outlined five issues he said the South African government needed to address.
They included protecting rural communities from violence, condemning rhetoric that the US considers to incite hatred or glorify violence, ensuring fair compensation under land expropriation policies, reviewing aspects of BEE regulations and ending what Washington described as South Africa’s association with Iran and other US adversaries.
Bozell said at the time that addressing the issues was “achievable, practical and beneficial to both Americans and South Africans.”
He later accused Pretoria of keeping Washington waiting for more than a year for a response.
The South African Presidency said on September 11 that it was still preparing a response to the issues raised by the US.
Rubio and Bozell have now indicated that Washington is no longer willing to wait.
“The United States remains gravely concerned about racially motivated crime and government-sponsored discrimination occurring against the Afrikaners and other minority populations in South Africa,” Rubio said.
“We once again strongly urge the South African government to quickly address these egregious actions.”
South Africa rejects US claims
The South African government has previously rejected US claims that its laws discriminate against Afrikaners.
Pretoria has also described farm murders as part of the country’s broader violent crime problem and defended its non-aligned foreign policy.
On the controversial “kill the boer” chant, the government has pointed to court rulings concerning protected speech.
South Africa has also argued that its land expropriation laws are comparable to those of other countries, while the “nil compensation” provision is currently being challenged in court.
Washington has not specified what additional measures it could impose if the two countries fail to resolve their differences.
