The US State Department says its relationship with South Africa remains disturbed by the conditions in South Africa and discrimination experienced by racial minorities.

[WATCH] DIRCO has rejected claims in the US Human Rights Report that South Africa’s human rights record has “significantly worsened”. Spokesperson Chrispin Phiri says the department is concerned about the report, adding: “We don’t believe a unilateral decision on what constitutes… pic.twitter.com/Cidz7Mrhub

— SABC News (@SABCNews) August 13, 2025

A spokesperson for State was responding to a series of questions from SABC News after the Department of International Relations rejected its South Africa country report on Human Rights Practices as inaccurate and deeply flawed.

RELATED VIDEO | US Human Rights Report | Distortion, Human Rights & Farm Killings: Chrispin Phiri

They said their reports address human rights issues objectively whether they arose in countries that are adversaries, allies or partners and that they are summaries of factual observations.

#ICYMI: The Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) has rejected the US State Department’s Human Rights Country Report on South Africa as inaccurate and deeply flawed. https://t.co/b0ZsQMlxx4 pic.twitter.com/jv4roeyhSX

— SABC News (@SABCNews) August 14, 2025

Specific questions posed to the State Department where not all addressed in their response.

The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) News provided the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) statement to the State Department, inquiring as to whether there had been any engagement with the South African government prior to the release of the country report and asked them to respond to concerns raised by DIRCO about human rights deficiencies in the United States.

Part of DIRCO statement:

South Africa rejects inaccurate and deeply flawed account of Human Rights Practices.

The Ministry of International Relations and Cooperation registers its profound disappointment with the recent report on human rights in South Africa published by the… https://t.co/C65rDKZW2l

— Sherwin Bryce-Pease (@sherwiebp) August 12, 2025

A Spokesperson responded that President, Donald Trump had been very clear about his concerns on the severity of violence in South Africa and that the country needed to take tangible steps to condemn and address these egregious problems.

They said they continued to work with the South African government on issues where their interests aligned including on concerns raised in the report.

The country reports have been criticized by rights groups including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International as politically motivated.

RELATE VIDEO | US-SA Report | DIRCO slams US Human Rights Report on SA as ‘inaccurate and flawed’