🇿🇦 Pretoria Blasts U.S. Human Rights Report as “Biased, Inaccurate”

Pretoria says Washington’s latest human rights assessment misrepresents constitutional reality and ignores America’s own record.

Zig Diaries | Diplomacy
Date: Monday, 18 August 2025
Time: 08:30 WAT
Location: 📍 Pretoria, South Africa

The rebuke comes after Washington released a 21-page report accusing South Africa of worsening rights abuses, deepening tensions between the two nations.

South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) has strongly rejected the latest U.S. Human Rights Report on South Africa, calling it inaccurate, biased, and a distortion of the country’s constitutional reality.

The 21-page document, released by Washington this week, claimed that South Africa’s human rights situation had “significantly worsened,” citing land expropriations from Afrikaners, “abuses against racial minorities,” and alleged extrajudicial killings in provinces like KwaZulu-Natal. DIRCO dismissed the claims as misleading, stressing that criminal suspects are formally arraigned in court and that the report relied on “discredited accounts.”

The department also criticized the U.S. for issuing judgments on other countries while itself refusing supervision by international mechanisms like the U.N. Human Rights Council. It noted America’s own unresolved human rights challenges, including racial inequality and systemic violence.

International relations analyst Zimkhita Nene echoed that point, saying the critique exposed a glaring inconsistency. She argued that South Africa’s constitution not only meets international standards but also includes socioeconomic rights to redress apartheid-era injustices. She contrasted this with the U.S., where movements such as Black Lives Matter highlight systemic violence and racial inequality.

Relations between Pretoria and Washington have remained strained, particularly since South Africa filed a case against Israel at the International Court of Justice over alleged violations of the Genocide Convention in Gaza. Tensions also worsened during Donald Trump’s presidency, when the U.S. cut aid to South Africa and expelled its ambassador after Pretoria criticized American foreign policy.

Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola recently warned that repeated U.S. interference in South Africa’s domestic affairs had pushed bilateral relations “to a low.”

Fact-Check & Background:
South Africa’s constitution is widely regarded as one of the most progressive in the world, guaranteeing socioeconomic rights alongside civil and political freedoms. 

While rights abuses and police misconduct have been documented in the country, Pretoria has consistently rejected claims of systematic state-led persecution of minorities. 

U.S. human rights reports are annual assessments mandated by Congress, but they often face criticism for reflecting Washington’s foreign policy priorities rather than balanced observation.

🏷️ Tags: South Africa, United States, Human Rights, Diplomacy, Pretoria, Washington, Ronald Lamola, DIRCO
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