Secretary of State Marco Rubio says the US government is announcing a new visa restriction policy targeting some foreign nationals in South Africa.

The policy targets "foreign nationals who are responsible for, or complicit in, the enactment or implementation of laws or policies that enable uncompensated land seizures, race-based discrimination, and/or the incitement of imminent violence against members of minority ethnic or racial groups in South Africa," Rubio said in a statement on Tuesday.

Relations between Washington and Pretoria have soured since the start of Donald Trump's second term.

The US Ambassador to South Africa said in a post on X on Wednesday that US visa restrictions on some people from South Africa were "only the first step in a series of escalatory measures".

"The South African government has not adequately addressed the previously laid out concerns," Secretary Rubio alleged.

South Africa’s response

President Ramaphosa's government has consistently rejected the central premise of Washington’s concerns.

In August last year, South Africa hit back at the US government report accusing it of moving towards land seizures from white farmers, calling the allegation “deeply flawed” and “inaccurate”.

South African officials say the government remains committed to constitutional protections and is carrying out land reform within the law to promote equality.

Pretoria has sought to counter the US criticism while maintaining its trade ties with Washington.

The US is its third-largest trading partner, but South Africa has been expanding links with other major economies such as China and the EU.