The United States has lost patience with South Africa and severe consequences are coming

The US Ambassador to South Africa said the time for endless dialogue has run its course, and America is running out of patience with South Africa’s government.

In a recent social media post, the ambassador, Leo Brent Bozell III, said the United States wants lasting relations with South Africa.

However, he said South Africa needs to show it wants the same, which it has failed to do.

“So far, it has shown it cares for neither. As a result, the consequences, as I’ve attempted time and again to express, are necessarily going to be severe,” he said. 

This statement comes after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced a new visa restriction policy targeting South African politicians on Tuesday, 15 September.

This policy extends to “foreign nationals who enact or enable policies that promote race-based discrimination, incite violence, or enable land confiscation without compensation in South Africa”. 

“The United States will not allow such behaviour to go unchecked. These actions directly undermine peace, economic stability, and the rule of law,” Rubio said.

“Those responsible for these injustices have no place in the United States.”

Bozell said the visa restriction policy is only the first step in a series of escalatory measures that will “show America’s firm resolve in this matter”.

This is not the first policy move the United States has made in an effort to put pressure on the South African government to do away with policies the US deems unacceptable.

Earlier this year, US lawmakers called for sanctions on South African politicians for their discriminatory policies and foreign policy.

American lawmakers have also called for a full review of bilateral relations between South Africa and the United States, with two bills being tabled in Congress.

FF+ leader Dr Corné Mulder, SAAI executive director Dr Theo de Jager, and NEASA CEO Gerhard Papenfus have engaged with the United States about their demands of South Africa.

At the 9th Biznews Conference held in August 2026, they said the United States has five conditions for South Africa to improve relations with Washington:

• The ANC must distance itself from the ‘Kill the Boer’ song
• Farm killings must be declared a priority crime
• American investors should be exempted from BEE and transformation requirements
• The government must end Expropriation without Compensation 
• The ANC must end its close relations with Iran

Bozell has previously made similar statements, saying in March 2026 that US President Donald Trump is running out of patience with South Africa.

He said Trump is losing patience over the South African government’s failure to address Washington’s demands for changes to its domestic and foreign policies.

The government has responded to these statements, with ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula saying South Africa’s international relations policy will not be dictated to by anyone else but South Africans and their government.