‘US didn’t follow correct diplomatic processes to expel Rasool’ – Lamola says

International Relations Minister Ronald Lamola said the correct diplomatic processes were not followed to expel South Africa’s ambassador to the United States, Ebrahim Rasool.  

This follows the expulsion of Rasool by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday.

Rubio wrote on Elon Musk’s social media platform X that Rasool “is no longer welcome in our great country” and that the country considers him “persona non grata”.

He described Rasool as a “race-baiting politician who hates America and hates Potus (the president of the United States)”.

Compliance

Lamola said the department will comply with the decision and continue to engage with the US.

“We regret that this incident of withdrawing and expelling him without the normal process and diplomacy that is supposed to follow. So, there is nothing more now that you can really do. A decision has been taken by a sovereign state to expel him and given him a period within which he must come back or leave the US,” Lamola said.

“We will comply with that process, and that’s why I’m saying we will look into all the processes of transition and look into all processes of engagements with Washington, and there are some issues that we will raise obviously behind closed doors that don’t continue to sit well with.

“I believe they also have issues to raise with us that don’t sit well with them, and we hope that thrashing out the issues can lead to resetting the good relations that always existed between the two countries,” Lamola said.  

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‘Poor diplomacy’

Meanwhile, a conflict resolution expert said the US and South Africa are engaging in “poor diplomacy.”

Andre Vlok told eNCA that Rasool was not the right choice for Ambassador to the United States in the first place.

But Vlok said the US’ decision to expel Rasool was also a mistake.

“I’m not yet to defend Mr. Rasool. I think he was a very unfortunate appointment. I don’t think that was a well-considered appointment from the beginning. I think our government’s been making a series of mistakes so far.

Mismanagement

Vlok said from a conflict resolution perspective, both the US and South Africa are really “mismanaging the situation.”

“It’s an own goal in the sense certainly that this is not in anyone’s best interest, not those of the United States or ours and it’s really just poor diplomacy, poor conflict management,” Vlok said.

“These are opportunities, and I’m not saying anyone should change the perspective.  The US obviously wants to come out as they want to convince us that they’re tough and it’s a new day. They can stick to all of that and still not expel someone a month after he started.

“This is really poor. It sets a terrible precedent for them from their perspective, and it’s really poor diplomacy, whether we see from our side or their side,” Vlok said.

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US-SA relations

On Saturday, independent political analyst Marisa Lourenço said South Africa and US relations are “deteriorating rapidly”.

“I think it’s worth noting that the US is trying to force change in South Africa because it needs the latter. We don’t see the US behaving in the same way to African countries that have a much more pronounced anti-US, anti-Western rhetoric.

“If the US didn’t need South Africa, it would simply ignore it. Many US businesses are in South Africa, and many more use the country as the gateway to the rest of the sub-Saharan African region. So I don’t see this as the end to US-South Africa ties, even though it is a difficult time and will likely continue to be,” Lourenço said. 

‘Bullying’

Lourenço said the US may be “bullying” South Africa.

“I think it’s fair to say that the US has been bullying South Africa to try to affect policy change. But I think it is also fair to say that Rasool’s comments were inappropriate. It’s undiplomatic for an ambassador to call the leader of his host country a supremacist.

“Others may argue, why not call a spade a spade? Certainly, parts of the Trump administration’s rhetoric is underpinned by a certain rhetoric. But I would counter that and say, ‘why behave in the same manner?’ Why antagonise the US at such a tense time and behave as erratically?” Lourenço said.

Rasool has been given 72 hours to leave the country.

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