United States revokes visa of former South African minister

Former International Relations Minister Naledi Pandor, who now chairs the Nelson Mandela Foundation, has been informed by the US Consulate that her multiple-entry visitor visa, issued in 2024, has been immediately revoked.

Pandor, a long-time and prominent advocate for the Palestinian cause, said she was offered no explanation for the cancellation, stating the that correspondence indicated that the US government is under no obligation to provide reasons under the cited section of the Immigration and Nationality Act.

This move by the US State Department arrives amid a sweeping, often controversial crackdown on migration and foreign nationals deemed to be hostile to American policies or culture by the Donald Trump administration.

Pandor’s visa cancellation follows her role in launching South Africa’s landmark genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), while she headed the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO). Since then, she has repeatedly condemned the US for its support of Israel, describing it as enabling “genocide” and “imperialism” against Palestinians.

The diplomatic friction heightened following Pandor’s 2023 phone call with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, which Washington fiercely opposed since Hamas is designated a terrorist group. While Pandor defended the interaction as being “in line with South Africa’s readiness to engage all interlocutors”, the US ire has been clear.

Speaking to EWN, Pandor said she knew of a lobby group that had actively been writing to US officials, urging them to deny her entry.

AfriForum glee at Naledi Pandor visa termination

Reacting to the Pandor’s visa revocation, AfriForum’s Kallie Kriel claimed the US action was earned due to her “open ties with Iran & Hamas”.

“Action by the US against other ANC leaders may follow. It’s just a shame that the country also has to suffer from her and other ANC leaders’ foolish actions,” Kriel posted on X (Twitter), in Afrikaans.

Pandor has previously observed a major “tectonic shift” in US politics, arguing the US is no longer the world’s leading democracy but instead a “global threat” that uses its military and economic might to punish other states.

This latest revocation highlights an escalating diplomatic rift, bringing to mind the highly publicised expulsion of South Africa’s ambassador to the US, Ebrahim Rasool, earlier this year. Rasool was declared persona non grata and told he was “no longer welcome” in March 2025 after he gave an analytical webinar that publicly criticised Trump.

Rasool argued that Trump was “mobilising supremacism” and attempting to project “white victimhood”. His expulsion came shortly after the US government had cut aid funding to South Africa, wrongly alleging it supported Hamas and Iran, and was pursuing anti-white policies at home.

Past visa revocations

Just weeks prior to Pandor’s case, the State Department announced the revocation of six US visas, including one belonging to South African national Nhlamulo “Nota” Baloyi.

Baloyi’s visa was cancelled pursuant to section 221(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act after he posted comments mocking American distress and referring to right-wing activist Charlie Kirk’s supporters as “white nationalist trailer trash” following Kirk’s assassination. The State Department declared it had “no obligation to host foreigners who wish death on Americans”.

Recently, the US administration confirmed revoking over 80,000 non-immigrant visas in the past year, marking a sharp increase from 2024, often based on criminal conduct, violations of visa conditions, or “certain online activity”.

These actions include targeting pro-Palestinian demonstrators whose visas or green cards were withdrawn.

Pandor, who has used her post-political career to meet with the organisation Justice for All in the US, comparing the situation in Palestine to apartheid-era South Africa, is currently weighing the merit of reapplying for a new visa.