US visa curbs target South Africans over land and race policies

The United States has opened a visa restriction policy aimed at foreign nationals it links to South African laws on land and race, and no individual has been named as a target.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the restrictions can apply to people Washington determines are responsible for, or complicit in, measures enabling uncompensated land seizures, race-based discrimination, or incitement of violence against racial or ethnic minorities.

The State Department said Pretoria has not adequately addressed concerns Washington raised previously. The South African government has consistently rejected the central premise of those concerns.

The policy rests on a section of the Immigration and Nationality Act that lets the Secretary of State block a foreign national from entering the United States where there are reasonable grounds to believe the person’s entry or proposed activities would have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States.

What the mechanism actually does

It gives Washington a way to refuse visas to specific individuals it decides were involved in enacting or implementing the South African laws and policies covered by the announcement. Certain immediate family members may also face restrictions.

The announcement names no individuals. That matters for anyone trying to work out who is affected. The policy sets out a category and a test, not a list.

It is the latest turn in a dispute that has run for months, and it is expected to add strain to relations between the two countries.

The South African position

The government has rejected the premise on which the concerns rest. That position has not changed with this announcement.

Land reform in South Africa is governed by the Constitution and by legislation, and expropriation is a power exercised under law, with the courts able to test it. Race-based measures in South African law, including employment equity and broad-based black economic empowerment, are set out in statutes passed by Parliament and are open to challenge in South African courts.

Where Washington’s characterisation of those measures is disputed, the dispute is about how the laws are described, not about whether they exist.

What it means for people here

A visa restriction of this kind does not close any door for the ordinary traveller. It is aimed at named individuals, and so far there are none.

The practical effect falls on people who hold public office, who implement policy, or who are identified by Washington as having done so. For them, travel to the United States becomes a question that has to be checked before a ticket is booked. For their immediate family, the same question applies.

South Africans who hold US visas, or who apply for them, face no change under this announcement as it stands.

Where the decision sits

The Immigration and Nationality Act provision is a discretionary instrument. It is exercised by the Secretary of State, and it does not require a court finding against any person. That is why the absence of named individuals is the most important detail in the announcement, and why the list, if one is ever published, will be the thing to watch.

The South African government has not yet said what steps it will take in response. Its rejection of the premise of Washington’s concerns is on the record.

Source: SABC News (website), US announces new visa restrictions for certain South Africans