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Jonas said the “situation is complex and there are no quick wins”.
The new special envoy to the United States, Mcebisi Jonas. Picture: The Presidency.
The new special envoy to the United States, Mcebisi Jonas, says he is ready for his new role as he mulls over how to juggle tensions between South Africa, the United States and US President Donald Trump’s administration.
Jonas’s appointment comes after President Cyril Ramaphosa’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) in February, in which he said South Africa “would not be bullied” and that he would look to send special envoys to global capitols, including the US, to explain the country’s laws and policies to the international community.
He was appointed by Ramaphosa this week.
With the US administration under false impressions about the country’s expropriation laws and the treatment of Afrikaners in South Africa, the job falls on Jonas to ease the tensions between the two countries.
When asked about his new role, Jonas told 702 that the “situation is complex, and there are no quick wins.”
Jonas said his role is not as an ambassador to the US.
“It is [the role] somebody appointed to represent the president and the government on specific issues. It could be economic and freight issues, cultural issues, or resolving conflicts in some instances.
“But it is very specific and limited in terms of time and focus,” Jonas said.
ALSO READ: Jonas warns of ‘no quick fixes’ to repairing SA relationship with US [VIDEO]
Jonas said the role is more than just discussing trade.
“It covers political trade, economic broadly speaking, and deals with all the other dynamics and cultural issues between South Africa and the US.
“You can also look at it as a mechanism to use to ease the environment for a diplomatic relation between South Africa and the US and pave the wave for a more permanent appointment of an ambassador,” Jonas said.
Some have praised the former deputy finance minister’s appointment, while others have scrutinised his past remarks about Trump.
Speaking at the 11th Ahmed Kathrada Foundation lecture in 2020, after Trump lost the presidential race for a second consecutive term, Jonas said: “How we got to a situation where a narcissistic right-winger took charge of the world’s greatest economic and military powerhouse is something we need to ponder over.”
Jonas said he isn’t the only person who has said things about Donald Trump, adding that when he criticised the US president, he was no longer in government and was speaking as an activist.
His appointment as special envoy follows the expulsion of the former South African ambassador to the US, Ebrahim Rasool.
Rasool returned to South Africa last month after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio expelled him and stripped him of his diplomatic privileges.
He was declared persona non grata and given just a week to leave the US due to comments he made about the country and the Trump administration during a webinar.
ALSO READ: Ramaphosa appoints Mcebisi Jonas as special envoy to US
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