White House accuses South Africa of harassing US gov’t staff in latest row

Donald Trump’s administration has accused officials of harassing and extorting employees who work with white Afrikaners in recent weeks.

The charge was made on Thursday by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who was working with the US to process the relocations of seven Kenyan nationals.

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According to South Africa, those who are granted tourist visas are therefore not permitted to work.

Washington “condemns in the strongest terms” when Rubio claimed that US citizens had also been briefly detained in the imbroglio in a statement.

He added that officials’ passport information had been leaked, making it “an unacceptable form of harassment” that could put the victims “in harm’s way.”

He said that if the South African government fails to hold those accountable, severe consequences will result.

No US officials were detained in the raid, which South Africa claims did not take place at a diplomatic site. The US employing workers with the appropriate documentation “raises serious questions about intent and diplomatic protocol,” according to South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation.

The Trump administration has been putting pressure on South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s government for months, claiming it vehemently supports the country’s white Afrikaner farmers’ persecution. In far-right circles, the allegations had previously gained ground.

At a raucous White House gathering in May, senior elected officials, including Afrikaner leaders, publicly refute the claims, calling them false.

However, the Trump administration has continued to relocate Afrikaners through the refugee program.

That comes as the administration has stifled access to refugees from almost all other nationalities, dropping admissions from 7,500 for 2026, which is against what human rights organizations have labeled as flagrant racism.