Africa-Press – Kenya. Kenya has been caught in the middle of a tiff between the United States of America and South Africa after Pretoria deported seven Kenyans.
The Donald Trump administration is accusing the South African government of harassing its staff working at a refugee centre for the white minority Afrikaners seeking repatriation to America.
Neither President William Ruto and Foreign Affairs ministry has commented on the fate of identity o the Kenyans who were expelled.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio threatened undisclosed action, on Thursday, just a day after South Africa expelled seven Kenyan nationals brought into the country with the help of the US to process Afrikaner relocations.
During the raid, US claimed some of its national were detained briefly with some officials’ passport information being leaked, in what he called ‘an unacceptable form of harassment’ that risked putting the individuals “in harm’s way”.
Rubio who condemned the act in ‘the strongest terms’ demanded that South Africa apprehends its officials who were involved in the operation that he claims was meant to intimidate US embassy staff.
“This can only be seen as an attempt to intimidate US government personnel in South Africa on official business. The US will not tolerate such behaviour toward its government’s officials, or toward any of its citizens, who are legally and peacefully operating abroad.”
“Failure by the South African Government to hold those responsible accountable will result in severe consequences,” the Secretary of State warned.
However, in a swift rejoinder, Pretoria said the recent deportation of seven Kenyan nationals by the Department of Home Affairs was conducted in strict accordance with South African immigration law.
During the operation, Pretorial said seven Kenyan nationals were discovered engaging in work despite being in possession of tourist visas and were issued with deportation orders.
In a statement dated December 18, 2025, South Africa accused the Kenyans as ‘individuals were engaged in work without the necessary work permits’ insisting that the government will not negotiate its sovereignty and the implementation of the rule of law.
“Separately, we have noted an unsubstantiated allegation regarding the private information of U.S. officials. South Africa treats all matters of data security with the utmost seriousness and operates under stringent legal and diplomatic protocols.”
The ministry of international relations and cooperation said Cyril Ramaphosa’s administration ‘categorically reject any suggestion of state involvement in such actions’.
“Nonetheless, we remain committed to principled and transparent diplomacy. Official 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.”
Trump has for several months accused Ramaphosa’s governemtn of persecuting the Afrikaners and at one time confronted the South African President with Satellite images of what he termed as ‘white genocide in South Africa’ when the two leaders met in the White House.
It was later fact checked and found that the clip was from a scene in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) but Trump continued his double down on the attacks.
The US then announced a programme to offer immigration services to the white minorities; shipping a group of Kenyans to offer screening services.
Source: The Star
