(This March 14 story has been corrected to fix the spelling of Ebrahim Rasool’s name in paragraph 4)
By Humeyra Pamuk and Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo
WASHINGTON/JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – The United States has expelled South Africa’s ambassador, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Friday, calling the envoy a “race-baiting politician” who hates America and President Donald Trump.
Ties between the United States and South Africa have deteriorated since Trump cut U.S. financial aid to the country, citing disapproval of its land policy and of its genocide case at the International Court of Justice against Washington’s ally Israel.
“South Africa’s Ambassador to the United States is no longer welcome in our great country,” Rubio posted on social media platform X. “We have nothing to discuss with him and so he is considered PERSONA NON GRATA.”
Rubio reposted an article from right-wing website Breitbart that quoted the envoy, Ebrahim Rasool, as saying on Friday that Trump was leading a white “supremacist” movement.
South Africa’s presidency on Saturday “noted the regrettable expulsion” of Rasool, saying in a statement it remained committed to building a mutually beneficial relationship with the United States.
Chrispin Phiri, spokesperson for South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation, posted on X that the government “will engage through the diplomatic channel.”
Rasool has failed to secure routine meetings with State Department officials and key Republican figures since Trump, a Republican, took office in January, the news website Semafor reported this week.
It cited a South African diplomat as saying Rasool’s pro-Palestinian views and criticism of Israel seemed to be the reason for him being shut out.
The State Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
TIES AT ‘LOWEST POINT’
U.S.-South Africa ties have reached their “lowest point,” said Patrick Gaspard, a former U.S. ambassador to South Africa. “There’s too much at stake to not work towards the repair of this partnership.”
Rasool started his tenure by presenting his credentials to then-President Joe Biden on January 13, a week before Trump took office, according to the South African embassy’s website. It said this was Rasool’s second stint in Washington.
Trump has said, without citing evidence, that “South Africa is confiscating land” and that “certain classes of people” are being treated “very badly.”
South African-born billionaire Elon Musk, who is close to Trump, has said white South Africans have been the victims of “racist ownership laws.”
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa signed into law a bill in January aimed at making it easier for the state to expropriate land in the public interest, in some cases without compensating the owner.
Ramaphosa has defended the policy and said the government had not confiscated any land. The policy was aimed at evening out racial disparities in land ownership in the Black-majority nation, he said.
(Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk in Washington and Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo in Johannesburg; Additional reporting by Jasper Ward and Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Rosalba O’Brien and William Mallard)
