Johannesburg [South Africa], March 16: South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Saturday he had noted the "regrettable expulsion" of the country's ambassador to the United States and urged all stakeholders to maintain "decorum."
"South Africa remains committed to building a mutually beneficial relationship with the United States of America," he said in the statement. This is a new low-point for relations between the two countries, which have been tense since President Donald Trump took office.
On Friday night, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio took to the X platform to declare the South African ambassador, Ebrahim Rasool, "persona non grata" and said he was no longer welcome in the country. Rubio also shared a link from the right-wing website Breitbart, in which statements by Rasool were discussed.
In a video workshop organized by a South African think tank, the diplomat argued, among other things, that US President Donald Trump is strengthening nationalist forces worldwide. In this context, he also mentioned the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).
Based on these statements, Rubio accused Rasool of "race-baiting" and said the ambassador hated the US and Trump.
But South African political analyst Sandile Swana told Al Jazeera that the "core of the dispute" was Pretoria's decision to form a genocide case at the International Court of Justice against Israel, a close US ally, over its war on Gaza.
In February, Rasool, an anti-apartheid campaigner, told the Zeteo news site that what South Africans experienced during apartheid rule "is on steroids in Palestine". Moreover, Swana explained that in the fight against apartheid, the US "supported the apartheid regime".
In February, Trump accused the South African government of having "unjust and immoral practices" and signed an executive order to freeze aid to the country. He cited a law passed in South Africa that allows land to be expropriated in the public interest to compensate for injustices that occurred during the racist apartheid era (1948-94). At that time, land was systematically distributed unequally along ethnic lines, especially to white South Africans.
Rubio also refused to attend the G20 meeting of foreign ministers held in Johannesburg in February, claiming the country is "doing very bad things."
Source: Qatar Tribune
