AfriForum has accused the ANC of gambling with the country’s future following the shock expulsion of SA’s ambassador to the US.
Lobby group AfriForum has blamed the ANC for the expulsion of the South African ambassador to the United States, Ebrahim Rasool.
Rasool has been declared as “undesired person in the US after he accused President Donald Trump of leading “a white supremist movement” in the US and the world.
These remarks were met with outrage by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who, in turn, expelled Rasool and declared him an enemy of the American people.
SA ambassador Ebrahim Rasool declared ‘persona non grata’
Rubio wrote on X that Rasool is no longer welcome in “our great country”.
“We have nothing to discuss with him and so he is considered PERSONA NON GRATA,” Rubio wrote.
Rubio’s post comes after Rasool’s participation in a seminar by the Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Reflection on Trump’s policy stance on South Africa.
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The blame game: ‘ANC and their deployed cadre Ebrahim Rasool’ – AfriForum
AfriForum CEO Kallie Kriel accused the ANC of putting the country at risk with their flawed international relations policies and tactics.
“ANC leaders and their deployed cadre Ebrahim Rasool should take direct responsibility for escalating tensions between South Africa and the US,” Kriel said following the news of Rasool’s expulsion as ambassador.
Land expropriation furore and funding cuts
AfriForum had been blamed for what the South African government described as spreading misinformation about land grabs and farm attacks in the country.
This after the recent cancellation of US foreign aid to South Africa and the threat of worsening trade relations between South Africa and the US.
However, AfriForum has justified their campaign in the US as fighting for the injustices that minority groups, such as the Afrikaners, face. According to the group, this includes the reality of more than 100 race-based laws.
‘The situation is already worse’: Ambassador Rasool expulsion powerful signal
Koffi Kouakou, an international relations researcher at the University of Johannesburg (UJ) Centre for Africa China Studies (CACS), told The Citizen on Saturday that the situation between Washington and Pretoria is “already worse”.
He said President Cyril Ramaphosa and his team had failed to gain access to Trump and his team while the DA, Solidarity and AfriForum have managed to do that.
“The situation is already worse because these events of declaring the ambassador a persona non grata sends a powerful signal and the explanation is so vague.
“The fact that South Africa does not have a relationship with the US is very bad. It’s not only bad for South Africa, but also for the US.
“We do not know yet how this will end, but the next four years are going to be a tough and trying time for South Africa,” he said.
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‘Watch their deeds’
Despite the Trump administration claiming that the South African government is targeting white people with race-based laws, Kouakou said there is also an assumption that Trump and those around him, are racist.
“They cannot come and tell you that they are not racist. Watch their deeds… Elon Musk, for example, is saying that he wanted to bring his satellite company, Starlink, to South Africa.
“He claims that he was forbidden to do so because he is white. He is using BBBEE as a platform to express himself and he is not the only one. Most of these guys have right-wing tendencies,” Kouakou said.
“They now have a powerful agenda and they are now in the White House – one of the most powerful places to be in the world today, especially in America,” he concluded.
‘Regrettable’: SA government reacts to expulsion of Rasool
In a statement on Saturday, Presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said the government notes the “regrettable” expulsion of South Africa’s ambassador to the US.
“The Presidency urges all relevant and impacted stakeholders to maintain the established diplomatic decorum in their engagement with the matter,” he said.
Magwenya said South Africa remains committed to building a mutually beneficial relationship with the US.
