Home Affairs sets record straight over ‘US officials arrested’ during Johannesburg raid

The Department of Home Affairs has countered international reports, specifically those suggesting US officials were detained during a recent immigration enforcement operation in Johannesburg, confirming “No US officials were arrested in the process”.

The raid, described as routine and lawful by the department, targeted a facility processing, reportedly illegally, applications for so-called “refugees” seeking asylum in the United States.

Home Affairs, in a statement, said the operation followed intelligence reports indicating that several Kenyan nationals had entered South Africa using tourist visas but were illegally employed at the processing centre.

“This was despite the fact that earlier visa applications for Kenyan nationals to perform this work had been lawfully declined by the department,” the statement read in part.

During the operation, seven Kenyan nationals were detained, issued deportation orders, and subsequently prohibited from re-entering South Africa for five years. Home Affairs further clarified that the location was not a US diplomatic site, and the operation adhered to standard procedures for intensifying deportations.

The Kenyans were apparently working for an external organisation processing so-called “Afrikaner refugees” for the United States’ controversial resettlement programme.

Worsening of Unites States-South Africa relations

However, this latest incident is another chapter in deteriorating US-South African diplomatic relations.

While the Home Affairs denies arrests, CNN sources said South African immigration officials briefly questioned two US government employees and detained Kenyan nationals cooperating with the US State Department at the facility.

These US government staffers were in the country conducting “circuit rides” to interview Afrikaners seeking admission to the US as refugees. The US State Department demanded “immediate clarification”, labelling interference in their refugee operations as “unacceptable”.

The US refugee initiative itself is predicated on what South African authorities have consistently dismissed as “false, discredited allegation[s]” of anti-white “genocide” taking place in the country. Home Affairs suggested the coordination between “foreign officials” and undocumented workers raises “serious questions about intent and diplomatic protocol”.

This latest immigration flashpoint follows Washington’s controversial move to exclude South Africa entirely from all 2026 G20 events, including Sherpas, working groups, and the Leaders’ Summit in Miami.

Pretoria, a founding member of the G20, labelled the exclusion an “affront to multilateralism” and has asked G20 allies to challenge the US position.