The Minister of International Relations, Ronald Lamola, has strongly criticised the current US government’s policy that targets Afrikaners for resettlement in America, comparing it to “Apartheid 2.0”.
He also slammed new visa restrictions on South Africans whom the US claims are responsible for, or complicit in, uncompensated land seizures, race-based discrimination or alleged incitement of violence against minority racial or ethnic groups.
It is broadly seen as targeting South African government officials and politicians.
The Minister was speaking at the African Diaspora Forum in Washington, DC on Friday, 18 September, hosted by the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation. Lamola is in the US ahead of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
Lamola said South Africa’s constitutional democracy allows people of different races and backgrounds to live together. He argued that South Africa’s experience of overcoming its history of racial division could serve as an example internationally.
The South African government has repeatedly rejected claims that white South Africans face genocide or systematic racial persecution, saying its policies are aimed at addressing the country’s history of racial inequality.
US Congressman Jonathan Jackson, who introduced Lamola, also pushed back against claims of a “genocide” against white South Africans.
Jackson, a Democrat representing Illinois, said bluntly that “there is no genocide in South Africa”, while praising South Africa for being a democracy and a diverse society.
There is no #Genocide against white people in South Africa, we must tell people the truth – @rep_jackson #UnityInDiversity #SouthAfrica@UbuntuRadioZA @GovernmentZA @RonaldLamola @DIRCO_ZA pic.twitter.com/fg42srUqJY
— Ubuntu Radio DSTV888 (@UbuntuRadioZA) September 20, 2026
