Cape Town – International Relations Minister Ronald Lamola has warned South Africans to prepare for a worst-case scenario as diplomatic tensions between Pretoria and Washington deepen.
Speaking to the SABC, Lamola said South Africa was being expected to surrender its sovereignty over issues including Black Economic Empowerment (BEE), land reform and foreign policy.
“South Africa has to prepare itself for the worst-case scenario because the reality is that we are expected to surrender our sovereignty,” he said.
Lamola said these were matters that “belong to the sovereignty of the South African people”.
The comments come after the Trump administration imposed new visa restrictions on certain South Africans over policies it says involve racial discrimination and uncompensated land seizures.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the measures last week, marking another escalation in tensions between Washington and Pretoria under President Donald Trump.
The policy targets people who are “responsible for, or complicit in” the enactment or implementation of laws or policies that the US says enable uncompensated land seizures, race-based discrimination or the incitement of imminent violence against minority ethnic or racial groups in South Africa.
“The South African government has not adequately addressed the previously laid out concerns,” Rubio said.
As @POTUS has made clear, the South African people are being failed by a government that is destroying its economy through an obsessive pursuit of racial grievance against the Afrikaner minority. The South African government has consistently failed to adequately address rural…
— Secretary Marco Rubio (@SecRubio) September 15, 2026
The restrictions have opened another front in an already strained relationship between Washington and Pretoria.
Despite the tensions, Lamola said South Africa remained open to engagement.
Ambassador to the US Roelf Meyer has similarly called for dialogue, saying: “The bilateral relationship that is at the foundation of this relationship must be restored, and it can only be done through dialogue.”
WATCH | South Africa’s ambassador to the United States, Roelf Meyer, says Pretoria-Washington relations were affected by an executive order issued on 7 February 2025. He says efforts are under way to have the order lifted to unlock greater trade and investment opportunities. pic.twitter.com/rGSiZMpN0J
— SABC News (@SABCNews) September 10, 2026
He added: “I think it’s important that we keep open to talk and to establish a proper dialogue to ensure there is reliable dialogue between the two countries.
“The current relationship was affected hugely by the executive order that was issued on the 7th of February, 2025. And since then, it remains a hurdle. The set of conditions that came out of the executive order, we would of course from a South African side, like to work towards having that order lifted because that would remove some of the political hindrances.
“Once that is removed, then obviously it’s going to be easier to get the trade flow and the investments coming.”
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Compiled by Betha Madhomu
