By Tata Mbunwe
The United States of America has chased away the South African Ambassador, Ebrahim Rasool, accusing the diplomat of fanning hate against America and President Donald Trump.
The US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, in a statement on X, said Ambassador Rasool “is no longer welcome in our great country”.
He accused Ebrahim Rasool of being “a race-baiting politician who hates America”, adding that, “We have nothing to discuss with him and so he is considered PERSONA NON GRATA.”
Secretary Rubio reposted an article from a right-wing media outlet, Breitbart, in which Rasool is quoted as describing Trump as a white “supremacist”.
This Saturday morning, South Africa reacted describing the decision as “regrettable”.
“The Presidency urges all relevant and impacted stakeholders to maintain the established diplomatic decorum in their engagement with the matter,” the SA presidency said.
It added that it “remains committed to building a mutually beneficial relationship with the United States of America”.
Relations between the US and South Africa have deteriorated since Donald Trump took office in January 20.
Last month, the US president signed an executive order freezing assistance to the country, citing South Africa’s “discriminatory” land laws against white settlers and its genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice.
