US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has charged South Africa’s ambassador with harboring animosity toward the US and President Trump.
South Africa has expressed that the United States’ decision to expel Ambassador Ebrahim Rasool is “regrettable,” but the nation “remains dedicated to fostering a mutually beneficial relationship” with Washington.
The South African presidency called for “all relevant and affected stakeholders to uphold the established diplomatic decorum in their dealings regarding this matter” in a statement released Saturday morning, shortly after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio labeled Rasool as a “race-baiting politician” who despises the US and President Donald Trump.
Rubio posted on X that Rasool was “no longer welcome in our great country,” stating: “We have nothing to discuss with him, and therefore he is considered PERSONA NON GRATA.”
Rubio’s comments were linked to an article from the right-wing media outlet Breitbart, in which Rasool is cited claiming Trump has stimulated a “supremacist instinct” and “white victimhood” as a “dog whistle” in the context of the 2024 elections.
However, South African political analyst Sandile Swana informed Al Jazeera that the “heart of the dispute” lies in Pretoria’s resolution to pursue a genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice due to its actions in Gaza, a close ally of the US.
In February, Rasool, a campaigner against apartheid, conveyed to the Zeteo news site that the experiences of South Africans during apartheid are akin to being “on steroids in Palestine.”
Furthermore, Swana detailed that during the struggle against apartheid, the US “backed the apartheid regime.”
“[Thus] Rasool continues to highlight the actions of the United States, which even now is to support apartheid and genocide,” he remarked.
Land policy
Nevertheless, the decision by Washington to expel the South African ambassador comes amid growing tensions between the two nations, particularly since Trump cut financial assistance to South Africa, criticizing its land policy, which he accused of permitting the seizure of land from white farmers.
Last week, Trump intensified his rhetoric, stating that South African farmers were welcome to relocate to the US, reiterating that the South African government was “confiscating” land from white individuals.
South African-born tech billionaire Elon Musk, a close ally of Trump, has also accused the country of enforcing “openly racist ownership laws.”
However, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has defended the policy, asserting that the government was not appropriating land but rather working to rectify racial disparities in land ownership within the Black-majority nation.
Bengali (Bangladesh) · 
English (United States) ·