By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Washington on Thursday denounced the detention of U.S. officials in South Africa, who it says were providing support to the minority white South Africans, the Afrikaners it alleged are facing persecution.
“The U.S. condemns in the strongest terms the South African government’s recent detention of U.S. officials performing their duties to provide humanitarian support to Afrikaners,” the State Department said in a statement, referring to South Africa’s Dutch-descended minority group.
Two U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) refugee officers were briefly detained and released during the operation on Tuesday, Reuters quoted a USCIS official and a person familiar with the matter as saying.
South Africa’s home affairs ministry however says no U.S. officials were arrested.
Heritage Times HT on Wednesday reported that South African authorities said they arrested and would deport seven Kenyan nationals illegally working on processing refugee applications for the U.S. government.
President Donald Trump’s administration aims to bring thousands of white South Africans to the United States over claims that they are victims of racial persecution, an allegation South Africa’s government denies.
Trump since inauguration for a second term in office in January has repeatedly made allegations about South Africa’s treatment of its white minority. On the basis of that, he has announced a sweeping aid cut and excluding South Africa from participating in the G20 Summit to be hosted by Washington in 2026.
The State Department said on Thursday that U.S. officials’ passport information had also been publicly released in what it called “an unacceptable form of harassment.”
“We call on the Government of South Africa to take immediate action to bring this situation under control and hold those responsible accountable,” the State Department said.
South Africa’s foreign affairs ministry responded that it had noted “an unsubstantiated allegation regarding the private information of U.S. officials”.
“South Africa treats all matters of data security with the utmost seriousness … We categorically reject any suggestion of state involvement in such actions,” the foreign affairs ministry said in a statement.
It added that it would seek further clarity from the U.S. government via official channels and that it would make the point that “bilateral engagements must be grounded in mutual respect and factual dialogue”.
