The South African government reassured foreign embassies on Wednesday that there was "no need to feel unsafe" after the closure of United States government facilities across the country.

Cabinet spokesperson Themba Maseko said at a media briefing that South African agencies were in touch with the US government to try to "understand the nature of the threat".

"The relevant agencies are in touch with US government to understand the nature of the threat and to see what can be done in cooperation with them to address that particular challenge," Maseko said.

"Obviously, the closure of the embassies is not something that is a good thing because it creates an impression that we are not a safe country."

"All citizens from other embassies in this country do and must continue to feel safe."

Maseko said he was not aware of any danger to South Africans.

"We want to reassure the public that South Africa is a indeed a safe country," he said.

"At this point we are not aware of any danger to ordinary South Africans."

The US embassy in Pretoria, consulates in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban, as well as aid and development offices have been closed since Tuesday after the US state department said it had received a "credible" threat against the embassy.

Maseko said the Cabinet was not aware if the threat was real or not.

"The US authorities believe that there was a threat that they had to address and we will work with them to ensure their concerns are addressed."

He had no information on the source of the US's information.

"I can't confirm what their source was. My information at this point is that they got their information from their own sources."

Sapa

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