Dirco took the sensible route with Trump

Our country’s department of international relations and co-operation (Dirco) is not particularly well liked by many on the right, here and abroad, as well as supporters of Israel… but among many countries it is well regarded for its measured approach to diplomacy.

The outburst by former SA ambassador to the US Ebrahim Rasool was undiplomatic and many believe he deserved the marching orders he got from President Donald Trump’s secretary of state, Marco Rubio.

Rasool, though, is only part of the problems facing the Washington-Pretoria relationship, as Trump and his colleagues are clearly hell-bent on forcing the ANC to change course on issues like land expropriation and black economic empowerment, all the while amplifying the claims of a “white genocide”.

It was sensible, then, for a Dirco delegation to travel to the US to meet officials in the State Department in an effort to clear the air and perhaps clear up some misunderstandings, which Dirco claims has been done.

Like many countries around the world which have been stunned by some of Trump’s over-the-top executive orders, South Africa has decided to play it cool, the Rasool episode notwithstanding.

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There is no sense, after all, in poking the bear in the White House.

However, it is doubtful whether grovelling before Trump will work either, because not only does his mind seem made up that South Africa is just another “shithole country”, he is also playing to his conservative, often racist, supporters’ gallery.

And they have bought the genocide myth hook, line and sinker.

In a situation where you’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t, there is precious little wriggle room for Pretoria.

Perhaps the most sensible thing to do is just suck it up, let the bullying ride over us and look to find friends among Trump’s growing list of enemies.

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