South Africa's foreign ministry said on Wednesday that it had noted with concern US visa restrictions on some people from South Africa announced by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio a day earlier.

The foreign ministry added in a statement that the US announcement aligned with "the mischaracterisation of South Africa's domestic policies by fringe groups."

"We maintain that challenges in our bilateral relations with the USA can only be resolved by constructive engagement through state actors on both sides of the diplomatic channel not unilateral acts," the statement said.

Trump has repeatedly criticised South Africa since the start of his second term for what he falsely claims is the racial persecution of its white minority, citing affirmative action laws aimed at addressing the inequality that has persisted since apartheid.

'Escalatory measures'

It was not clear who would be impacted by the new visa restrictions.

The US Ambassador to South Africa said in a post on X earlier on Wednesday that they were "only the first step in a series of escalatory measures."