Read more
Mbeki said being an ambassador came with the certain restrictions.
Former President Thabo Mbeki addressing students at UNISA in Pretoria. Picture: Screengrab of video.
As South Africa negotiates the diplomatic fallout with the Donald Trump administration, former President Thabo Mbeki has criticised expelled SA ambassador to the US Ebrahim Rasool, saying he was in the wrong.
Mbeki was at the University of South Africa (UNISA) in Pretoria on Friday, where the Thabo Mbeki African School of Public and International Affairs hosted conversations with students and the former statesman on a range of global issues.
Rasool returned to South Africa last week 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: WATCH: ‘The president appoints ambassadors,’ says Ramaphosa
Mbeki said being an ambassador came with certain restrictions.
“Ebrahim Rasool is an old friend and comrade of mine. But I think, in this instance, he made a mistake. He said things about his host president which he should not have said.
“When I saw this and saw this persona non grata, I wasn’t surprised because it means, practically, you make an assessment of your host president, which is negative, then you want to sit with that president tomorrow? They won’t agree.”
However, Rasool told supporters after his return that he had no regrets.
“A declaration of persona non grata is meant to humiliate you,” Rasool told supporters as he addressed them with a megaphone.
“But when you return to crowds like this, and with warmth … like this, then I will wear my persona non grata as a badge of dignity. It was not our choice to come home, but we come home with no regrets.”
“My remarks were with the [Mapungubwe] institute speaking to South African intelligents, intellectuals, political leaders and others to alert them to a change of the way we live, to a change of the way we are positioned in the United States, that the old way of doing business with the US was not a good one.”
ALSO READ: Lamola met expelled Ebrahim Rasool upon his return to SA, Dirco says
Mbeki said South Africa should send a message that it is not looking for enemies but is willing to work with all nations.
He said US behaviour is based on allegations that South Africa treats a minority group differently from the rest of the population.
“As a country, we must have a policy that says we are not looking for enemies. We must have a foreign policy that says we want friendly, mutually beneficial cooperation with everyone in the world.
“And even if we reach a bilateral agreement with country A, and don’t reach an agreement as a way of opposing another country, as a government, as a country, we need to make sure that we try to build good relations with the US, good relations with China and good relations with everybody.”
With South Africa now requiring a new ambassador to heal fractured relations with the US, President Cyril Ramaphosa said the country needs a “top-class official”.
Ramaphosa has asserted his authority, stating he doesn’t need to consult his government or national unity (GNU) partners to select a replacement for Rasool.
ALSO READ: US embassy clarifies nomination of Brent Bozell III as ambassador to SA
Download our app