The United States has expelled South Africa’s ambassador after accusing him of being a “race-baiting politician” who hates America and president Donald Trump.
Secretary of state Marco Rubio said on Friday that the envoy was “no longer welcome in our great country”.
“Ebrahim Rasool is a race-baiting politician who hates America and hates @POTUS. We have nothing to discuss with him and so he is considered PERSONA NON GRATA.”
Mr Rubio reposted an article from the right-wing website Breitbart that quoted the envoy saying in a webinar that Mr Trump was leading a white “supremacist” movement.
Since Mr Trump returned to the White House, ties between the two countries have reached their “lowest point”, according to Patrick Gaspard, former US ambassador to South Africa.
South Africa's Ambassador to the United States is no longer welcome in our great country.
— Secretary Marco Rubio (@SecRubio) March 14, 2025
Ebrahim Rasool is a race-baiting politician who hates America and hates @POTUS.
We have nothing to discuss with him and so he is considered PERSONA NON GRATA.https://t.co/mnUnwGOQdx
The president cut US financial aid to the country because he disapproved of its land policy, which aims to expropriate land and even out racial disparities, and its genocide case at the International Court of Justice against Israel.
South Africa’s presidency “noted the regrettable expulsion” of Mr Rasool in a statement.
“The Presidency urges all relevant and impacted stakeholders to maintain the established diplomatic decorum in their engagement with the matter.
“South Africa remains committed to building a mutually beneficial relationship with the United States of America.”
Chrispin Phiri, spokesperson for South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation, posted on Twitter/X that the government “will engage through the diplomatic channel”.
It was Mr Rasool’s second stint in the role as ambassador after he initially held the role between 2010 and 2015.
He returned to the position on 13 January while Joe Biden was still in office, but news website Semafor reported that he had been unable to secure routine meetings with State Department officials and key Republican figures since Mr Trump returned to power.
Mr Gaspard said: “There’s too much at stake to not work towards the repair of this partnership.”
Mr Trump accused South Africa of “confiscating land” and treating “certain classes of people ... very badly” without citing evidence.
Pretoria-born billionaire Elon Musk, who works closely with the president, has also criticised his home country, saying that white South Africans were victims of “racist ownership laws”.
In January, South Africa’s president Cyril Ramaphosa signed into law a bill that aims to make it easier for the state to expropriate land in the public interest, sometimes without compensating the owner.
He defended the policy and said it was created to even out racial disparities in land ownership.
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