The Trump administration has stepped up its confrontation with South Africa, accusing the government in Pretoria of harassing and doxxing people working with white Afrikaners under a US-backed relocation effort.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio made the accusation on Thursday, a day after South Africa expelled seven Kenyan nationals who had entered the country with US assistance to help process Afrikaner relocations.
South African authorities said the individuals were using tourist visas and were therefore not legally permitted to work. Washington, however, framed the move as intimidation.
In a statement, Rubio claimed that US nationals were briefly detained during the incident, an allegation South Africa denies, and said officials’ passport details were leaked online.
“That is an unacceptable form of harassment and puts these individuals in harm’s way,” Rubio said, adding that Washington “condemns this in the strongest terms”. “Failure by the South African Government to hold those responsible accountable will result in severe consequences,” he warned.
South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation rejected the US account, saying no American officials were arrested and that the operation did not take place at a diplomatic site. The department said the presence of foreign workers without proper documentation “raises serious questions about intent and diplomatic protocol”.
The clash is the latest episode in months of escalating pressure by the Trump administration on President Cyril Ramaphosa’s government. Washington has repeatedly claimed, without evidence, that South Africa is tolerating or enabling the persecution of white Afrikaner farmers, allegations that first gained traction in far-right political circles.
Ramaphosa has forcefully rejected those claims. Afrikaner leaders and senior South African officials also dismissed them as misinformation during a contentious White House meeting in May.
Despite that pushback, the Trump administration has continued relocating members of the Afrikaner community through the US refugee system — even as it has sharply curtailed refugee admissions for nearly all other nationalities. Admissions have been cut to a historic low of 7,500 for 2026, a move rights groups have criticised as racially selective.
Relations between Washington and Pretoria have steadily deteriorated. The Trump administration has previously expelled South Africa’s ambassador, boycotted the G20 summit in Johannesburg and excluded South Africa from attending next year’s G20 meeting in Miami.
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