The Department of International Relations and Cooperation has rejected accusations by the US State Department that South Africa detained, intimidated and “doxed” US officials during a raid on a facility in Johannesburg that processes applications of Afrikaners who want to become “refugees” in the United States.
It comes after the United States warned of ‘severe consequences’ over the raid, demanding that South Africa hold its officials to account.
In a statement overnight, the Department maintains the recent deportation of seven Kenyan nationals by the Department of Home Affairs was conducted in strict accordance with South African immigration law. Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber has denied that any US officials were arrested.
“These individuals were engaged in work without the necessary work permits. The government will not negotiate its sovereignty and the implementation of the rule of law.”
Department spokesperson Chrispin Phiri says the allegations regarding the alleged release of private passport information of US officials online (so-called “doxxing”) are unsubstantiated.
“South Africa treats all matters of data security with the utmost seriousness and operates under stringent legal and diplomatic protocols. We categorically reject any suggestion of state involvement in such actions.”
Phiri says official channels have been opened with the United States Government to seek clarity on this allegation and to “reinforce that our bilateral engagements must be grounded in mutual respect and factual dialogue.”
Meanwhile, the ANC has blasted Afriforum and its leader Kallie Kriel for “inciting fear through manufactured disinformation.”
Kriel and others have amplified the US allegations online, even amidst official government denials.
The ANC says Kriel’s actions are “reckless, racist” and a deliberate campaign to undermine South Africa’s sovereignty.
“This conduct is no longer fringe rhetoric; it is a calculated political project aimed at destabilising our democracy and fracturing social cohesion. The lawful intervention by the Department of Home Affairs against unauthorised foreign nationals operating illegally in South Africa has been cynically distorted by AfriForum into a false narrative of racial persecution. This is not a misunderstanding of facts but an intentional attempt to poison public discourse, incite racial hysteria, and portray South Africa as a hostile state to external right-wing networks. Such behaviour is unpatriotic and dangerous.”
