South African ambassador to the US Ebrahim Rasool has been expelled from the US barely two months after he arrived in Washington and is “no longer welcome.” 

TRUMP vs SA

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio accused him of being a “race-bating politician who hates America.” Rasool shared in a statement on social media.“South Africa’s ambassador to the United States is no longer welcome in our great country. Ebrahim Rasool is a race-baiting politician who hates America and hates [the President of the United States]. We have nothing to discuss with him and so he is considered Persona Non-Grata (A foreign diplomat who is asked by the country of host to be recalled to their home).” He then shared a recorded lecture on social media where Rasool was giving a webinar hosted by the Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Reflection on Donald Trump’s foreign policy and changes in the administration for South Africa and Africa. Here Rasool says, “Trump is leading a white supremacist movement in America and around the world.” Before this post, Rasool first served as South Africa’s top envoy to the US from 2010 to 2015.

BARRED!

Presidency Cyril Ramapahosa noted the expulsion which came just days after he said Rasool was “on the ground” in Washington. “The Presidency has noted the regrettable expulsion of South Africa’s ambassador to the United States of America, Mr. Ebrahim Rasool,” the Presidency said 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.”

BULLYING?

Trump has continued to cut all aid from the US due to the alleged false claim of the Land Expropriation Act which he deemed as enabling the government to seize ethnic minority Afrikaners’ agricultural property without compensation. Last month, during the State of the Nation address, Ramaphosa noted that South Africa would not be bullied into abandoning policies that Trump had labelled “anti-Americanism.