US limits visas for South African officials over alleged anti-white discrimination

The US has announced visa restrictions targeting people it accuses of discriminating against South Africa's white minority, in the latest escalation of tensions between the two countries.

The Trump administration has criticised South Africa over several issues, including policies aimed at addressing racial inequality that it says discriminate against Afrikaners, descendants mainly of Dutch and French settlers.

South Africa's Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola said he noted the announcement with "concern".

"The announcement once again, [sic] aligns with the mischaracterisation of South Africa's domestic policies by fringe groups who wrongly portray themselves as representatives of 'minorities' and Afrikaners in general," said a statement from the international relations and co-operation ministry.

Announcing the restrictions on Tuesday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said: "The South African government has not adequately addressed the previously laid ​out concerns."

He said the visa restrictions would target those who promote "race-based discrimination, incite violence, or enable land confiscation without compensation in South Africa."

Rubio did not immediately name any individuals targeted by the restrictions.

Relations between the two countries have been on a downward spiral since President Donald Trump returned to office early last year, with the US leader cutting aid, expelling the South African ambassador and offering "refuge" to white South Africans fleeing "persecution."

The South African government has repeatedly rejected allegations that it is persecuting white people or confiscating their land.

It said claims of a white genocide had been widely discredited and lacked reliable evidence .

South Africa's latest crime statistics do not indicate that white people are at a greater risk of violent crime than other racial groups.

Trump offered refugee status to Afrikaners last year after South African President Cyril Ramaphosa signed a law allowing the government to seize land without compensation in rare instances.

The legislation allows the state to expropriate property in the public interest and provides for circumstances in which compensation may be set at zero. But it also requires authorities, in most cases, to first try to reach an agreement with property owners, and disputes can be taken to court.

Land ownership remains a highly sensitive issue in South Africa more than three decades after the end of apartheid, under which the black majority was dispossessed of land and denied many basic rights.