South Africa's Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) has denounced the "South Africa 2024 Human Rights Report" issued by the United States as inaccurate and deeply flawed, saying that it fails to reflect the reality of the country's constitutional democracy. The report's reliance on contextual information and discredited accounts is highly concerning, DIRCO said. The 21-page report, released by the U.S. government on Wednesday, claims that "the human rights situation in South Africa significantly worsened during the year," following the expropriation of land belonging to Afrikaners and "abuses against racial minorities." It also alleged that there had been "extrajudicial killings," citing media reports of criminal suspects killed in shoot-outs with police, particularly in the country's KwaZulu-Natal Province. DIRCO refuted the claim, saying that it is not only premature but a fundamental distortion of the facts, as the individuals are formally arraigned before a court of law. The department said it was ironic that the United States, a country that has withdrawn from the U.N. Human Rights Council and refused to accept the supervision of multilateral review mechanisms, would issue biased reports on the human rights situation in other countries. DIRCO pointed out that given the numerous well-documented human rights issues in the United States, the U.S.' moves are particularly striking. Zimkhita Nene, a South African international relations analyst, underscored the country's commitment to redressing historical injustices and fostering an equitable future, contrasting it with systemic racial targeting evident in the United States. South Africa's relations with the United States have remained tense since it filed an application instituting proceedings against Israel before the International Court of Justice, the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, concerning alleged violations by Israel of its obligations under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Genocide Convention) in relation to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. U.S. President Donald Trump's administration cut off aid to South Africa on the grounds that the country's internal affairs constituted "racial discrimination" against white people, and then expelled the South African ambassador to the United States who had made critical remarks about Trump. Ronald Lamola, South African Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, said in a recent media interview that the U.S. attempts to interfere in South Africa's domestic issues have brought bilateral relations to "a low." Shotlist: Johannesburg, South Africa - Aug 15, 2025: FILE: Pretoria, South Africa - August 2023 1. National flag of South Africa; FILE: Johannesburg, South Africa - February 2025 2. Cityscape, traffic; FILE: Johannesburg, South Africa - Jan 10, 2023 3. Traffic; FILE: Cape Town, South Africa - Date Unknown 4. Pedestrians; Johannesburg, South Africa - Aug 15, 2025 5. SOUNDBITE (English) Zimkhita Nene, South African international relations analyst (partially overlaid with shot 6): "This is a double standard by major proportions. I'd like to start by speaking about South Africa's constitution and human right institution as a whole. It meets international standard and more by also including social economic rights predictions to address historical injustice, as well as trying to foresee an equitable future for South Africa. In America, you have movements such as 'Black Lives Matter' and 'Say their Names' in the popular rhetoric, which is really speaking to the fact that in every day, there's institutionalized violence which specifically targets people of color within the country."; [SHOT OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE] FILE: Kenosha City, Wisconsin, USA - Aug 29, 2020 6. Various of protesters, flag, T-shirt with words reading "Black Lives Matter"; [SHOT OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE] FILE: Gaza City, Gaza Strip - July 7, 2025 7. Various of smoke rising from buildings; FILE: Gaza Strip - July 8, 2025 8. Various of school shelter on fire, displaced people retrieving items from ruins; FILE: Washington D.C., USA - October 2024 9. Various of White House; 10. Various of Capitol Hill. [Restriction - No access Chinese mainland]