MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

US expels South African ambassador

Rasool's pro-Palestinian views and criticism of Israel seemed to have also played a part in the measure

The US Government expelled South Africa’s Ambassador Ebrahim Rasool this weekend after Secretary of State Marco Rubio declared him “persona non grata” for being a “race-baiting politician” who hates America and President Donald Trump. The decision followed Rasool’s comments during a South African think tank webinar, where he described Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement as a response to demographic shifts and a form of “supremacist assault.”

 Rubio stressed the diplomat was no longer welcome and gave him until March 21 to leave the country. Rasool had submitted his credentials to then-President Joseph Biden on Jan. 13, just a week before Trump took office. He had previously served as Ambassador to the US from 2010 to 2015.

“South Africa's Ambassador to the United States is no longer welcome in our great country,” Rubio posted on X. “We have nothing to discuss with him and so he is considered PERSONA NON GRATA.” Rubio also reposted an article quoting Rasool as saying that Trump was leading a white “supremacist” movement. Rasool's pro-Palestinian views and criticism of Israel seemed to have also played a part in the measure.

“The supremacist assault on incumbency, we see it in the domestic politics of the U.S.A., the MAGA movement, the Make America Great Again movement, as a response not simply to a supremacist instinct, but to very clear data that shows great demographic shifts in the U.S.A. in which the voting electorate in the U.S.A. is projected to become 48% white,” the South African diplomat said in his telematic appearance at the Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Reflection (MISTRA) event. He also targeted Musk's outreach to far-right figures in Europe.

The move marks a new low after Trump's decision to cut aid to South Africa over its land reform policies and its genocide case against Israel at the International Criminal Court (ICC). South Africa’s new Expropriation Act, aimed at addressing historical land ownership disparities from the apartheid era, has drawn criticism from Trump and his South African-born ally Elon Musk, who claim it discriminates against white South Africans, particularly Afrikaners.

President Cyril Ramaphosa has denied these claims, emphasizing that no land has been confiscated and the policy seeks equitable redistribution. South Africa’s government expressed regret over Rasool’s expulsion, reaffirming its commitment to maintaining diplomatic ties with the US. “South Africa remains committed to building a mutually beneficial relationship with the United States of America,” it said in a statement. “The Presidency urges all relevant and impacted stakeholders to maintain the established diplomatic decorum in their engagement with the matter,” a statement from Ramaphosa's office also mentioned.

Meanwhile, Washington has begun implementing refugee resettlement for Afrikaners, following Trump’s executive order offering them a pathway to citizenship.