{"id":883939,"date":"2026-01-10T06:26:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-10T12:26:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/10\/sa-reaffirms-its-sovereignty-as-us-again-attacks-pretoria\/"},"modified":"2026-01-10T06:26:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-10T12:26:09","slug":"sa-reaffirms-its-sovereignty-as-us-again-attacks-pretoria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/10\/sa-reaffirms-its-sovereignty-as-us-again-attacks-pretoria\/","title":{"rendered":"SA reaffirms its sovereignty as US again attacks Pretoria"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\"Chrispin<\/p>\n

Dirco spokesperson Chrispin Phiri. (@Chrispin_JPhiri\/Twitter)<\/p>\n

As the US administration on Thursday warned South Africa of \u201csevere consequences\u201d over the arrest and subsequent deportation of seven Kenyan nationals, found to have been engaged in US work without the necessary permits, SA has reaffirmed its sovereignty.<\/p>\n

Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco) spokesperson Chrispin Phiri, said South Africa reaffirmed sovereign immigration enforcement and that US data allegations would be addressed through diplomatic channels.<\/p>\n

Phiri said the deportation of US administration-linked Kenyan nationals by the Department of Home Affairs, was conducted \u201cin strict accordance with South African immigration law\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese individuals were engaged in work without the necessary work permits.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe government will not negotiate its sovereignty and the implementation of the rule of law,\u201d cautioned Phiri.<\/p>\n

He said South Africa treated all matters of data security \u201cwith the utmost seriousness and operates under stringent legal and diplomatic protocols\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe categorically reject any suggestion of state involvement in such actions,\u201d said Phiri.<\/p>\n

He described as \u201cunsubstantiated\u201d allegations regarding the private information US officials alleged was made public.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe remain committed to principled and transparent diplomacy.<\/p>\n

\u201cOfficial 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,\u201d added Phiri.<\/p>\n

In what has signalled a further strain in SA-US relations, following unsubstantiated claims by US President Donald Trump of \u201can Afrikaner genocide\u201d he alleged took place in South Africa, the office of the US Department of State issued a warning \u2013 through the US embassy in Pretoria \u2013 over the Kenyan incident.<\/p>\n

Describing the development as the \u201cdoxing and harassment of American officials by the South African government\u201d, the US administration said the US condemned \u201cin the strongest terms the South African government\u2019s recent detention of US officials, performing their duties to provide humanitarian support to Afrikaners\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cFurthermore, the public release of our US officials\u2019 passport information is an unacceptable form of harassment,\u201d said the statement.<\/p>\n

It warned: \u201cThis can only be seen as an attempt to intimidate US government personnel in South Africa on official business.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe United States will not tolerate such behaviour toward its government officials or toward any of its citizens, who are legally and peacefully operating abroad.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe public release of personal identifying information puts the official in harm\u2019s way.
\u201cFailure by the South African Government to hold those responsible accountable, will result in severe consequences.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe call on the government of South Africa to take immediate action by bringing this situation under control and hold those responsible accountable.\u201d
Dr Ongama Mtimka of the Nelson Mandela University\u2019s Department of History and Political Studies, said the US embassy in South Africa was \u201cseemingly degenerating into a diplomatically incompetent mission that has traded international diplomacy and protocol for disrespect and downright undermining of South Africa as its host nation\u201d.<\/p>\n

Said Mtimka: \u201cHow such an office that has hosted great diplomats over the years is degenerating so rapidly, is baffling.<\/p>\n

\u201cInstead of treading carefully and balancing between diplomacy and the bullish posture of Washington, they have turned into embarrassing \u2018yes men and women\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are have shifted from being masters of cultural diplomacy to antagonising the people of this country, by undermining their democratically elected government and its institutions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wits University\u2019s honorary professor in the International Relations Department, John Stremlau, said: \u201cSouth African Minister of Home Affairs Leon Shriber, has given excellent reasons that these seven Kenyan citizens arrested for illegally working on tourist visas have been deported, according to reports.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Kenyans have been busy processing applications of white Afrikaners seeking refugee status in the United States.<\/p>\n

\u201cI suspect that no South Africans were willing to do the dirty work \u2013 an undertaking about the Trump lie on the so-called persecution of whites in South Africa \u2013 calling it a genocide against Afrikaners.<\/p>\n

\u201cMinister Schriber is white and Trump deports millions of people of colour, but has processed immigration requests from about 125 000 to 75 7000 from white Afrikaners from South Africa.
\u201cTo South Africa\u2019s credit, this is a stark reminder in a multi-racial liberal democracy.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just wish the US president would endorse multi-racialism and non-racialism \u2013 a struggle the US has gone through in centuries as many as SA.
\u201cDespite inequalities South Africa has embraced democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, ANC national spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu, has condemned the right wing AfriForum and its leader Kallie Kriel for spreading \u201cracism disinformation and attacks\u201d.<\/p>\n

Bhengu said the ANC \u201cunequivocally condemns Kallie Kriel and AfriForum for their latest actions, which constitute a reckless, racist and deliberate campaign to undermine South Africa\u2019s sovereignty \u2013 discrediting lawful state institutions and inciting fear through conduct was \u201cno longer fringe rhetoric \u2013 it is a calculated political project aimed at destabilising our democracy and fracturing social cohesion\u201d.<\/p>\n

She said the lawful intervention by the Department of Home Affairs against unauthorised foreign nationals operating illegally in South Africa \u201chas been cynically distorted by AfriForum into a false narrative of racial persecution\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not a misunderstanding of facts but an intentional attempt to poison public discourse, inciting racial hysteria and portraying South Africa as a hostile state to external right-wing networks.
\u201cSuch behaviour is unpatriotic and dangerous.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfriForum has once again chosen to posture as a conduit for foreign political, interests instead of a responsible organisation rooted in South Africa\u2019s constitutional reality.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy internationalising domestic matters, exaggerating false claims of victimhood and lobbying external actors against our country, they reveal themselves as wedge drivers whose politics depend on division,\u201d Bhengu said.<\/p>\n

She said: \u201cAs Isithwalandwe president OR Tambo warned, these are those who travel from ear-to-ear, sowing discord, weakening unity and undermining the people\u2019s confidence in their own state.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ANC calls on the people of South Africa to rise and defend our democracy \u2013 rejecting AfriForum\u2019s racist disinformation campaign.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe call on workers, youth, faith communities, progressive Afrikaners and all peace-loving South Africans to refuse to stay silent in the face of provocation.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur freedom was won through sacrifice and struggle \u2013 not so that a small group could distorting reality, insulting the intelligence of our people and endangering national unity.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ANC, said Bhengu, called on the South African government \u201cto act firmly and decisively, within the law, against any organisation or individual that persistently undermines constitutional institution \u2013 spreading racial hatred, or colludes with external forces against South Africa\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur sovereignty is non-negotiable and no one is above the law.<\/p>\n

\u201cSouth Africa was forged through courage, solidarity and a shared commitment to justice belonging to all who live in it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ANC will not allow racist disinformation to reverse our gains or to drag our nation backwards.
\u201cThe people must speak out, defend their nation and mobilise against such elements.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is time we expose the truth and defend the democratic project,\u201d said Bhengu.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Eyaaz
Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dirco spokesperson Chrispin Phiri. (@Chrispin_JPhiri\/Twitter) As the US administration on Thursday warned South Africa of \u201csevere consequences\u201d over the arrest and subsequent deportation of seven Kenyan nationals, found to have been engaged in US work without the necessary permits, SA has reaffirmed its sovereignty. Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco) spokesperson Chrispin Phiri, said<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":883940,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27609,110386],"tags":[109586,57217],"class_list":{"0":"post-883939","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-reaffirms","8":"category-sovereignty","9":"tag-reaffirms","10":"tag-sovereignty"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/883939","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=883939"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/883939\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/883940"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=883939"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=883939"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=883939"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}