Trump Administration Expels South Africa’s Ambassador to the U.S.
President Trump’s administration has officially expelled South Africa’s ambassador to the United States, a spokesman for the South African president said on Saturday, calling the decision “regrettable.”
The ambassador, Ebrahim Rasool, received an expulsion letter from the State Department, said Vincent Magwenya, the spokesman for President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa. The move comes during a low point in the relationship between the two countries, with Mr. Trump having accused Mr. Ramaphosa’s government of discriminating against South Africa’s white minority and siding with one of America’s enemies, Iran.
A statement from Mr. Ramaphosa’s office called for “the established diplomatic decorum” to be maintained.
“South Africa remains committed to building a mutually beneficial relationship with the United States of America,” the statement said.
The first indication of Mr. Rasool’s fate came as Secretary of State Marco Rubio flew back from the Group of 7 allies meeting in Canada on Friday.
Mr. Rubio wrote on social media that South Africa’s ambassador was a “race-baiting politician who hates America” and Mr. Trump. He added, “We have nothing to discuss with him and so he is considered PERSONA NON GRATA.” That designation requires South Africa to end Mr. Rasool’s role as ambassador.
Mr. Rubio made his comments above a repost of an article from Breitbart, a right-leaning news site, about remarks Mr. Rasool made on Friday via video link to an institute in Johannesburg. The article quoted Mr. Rasool as saying Mr. Trump was leading a “supremacist” movement against “the incumbency, those who are in power,” in South Africa.
The 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations says a host country “may at any time and without having to explain its decision” declare “any member” of a diplomatic mission to be persona non grata, which is Latin for an unwelcome individual. The convention states that in case of such a designation, “the sending state shall, as appropriate, either recall the person concerned or terminate his functions with the mission.”
Mr. Rubio declined last month to attend a meeting of top diplomats from the Group of 20 nations, criticizing the South African hosts for having a focus of the meeting be on “solidarity, equality and sustainability.” Other countries did not follow Mr. Rubio’s boycott.
Mr. Trump signed an executive order last month prioritizing the resettlement in the United States of Afrikaners, a white minority ethnic group in South Africa that descended from European colonizers. Mr. Trump referred to them as “victims of unjust racial discrimination,” falsely claiming that the South African government had seized their land. Mr. Trump’s order came after South Africa’s president had signed a new land reform bill into law.
Mr. Trump also ordered the federal government to cut off all aid to South Africa.
Despite the hostility with the White House, Mr. Ramaphosa has said that he wants to repair the relationship and maintain strong ties with the United States, which is South Africa’s second-largest trading partner. His government has been preparing a trade proposal to offer to Mr. Trump that it hopes will convince him that a relationship with South Africa would benefit America.
