‘Rasool had one job… he was clearly a red flag to a bull for Trump’ – expert

Former South African ambassador to the United States Ebrahim Rasool was “clearly a red flag to a bull for the Trump administration”, a fellow at the Wilson Centre for Global Affairs says.

“The original sin was him being appointed in the first place. If we wanted to set South Africa-US relations, he was clearly not the person to do it,” said Terence McNamee from the Wilson Centre.

Expulsion

Rasool was expelled on Friday by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

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)”.

Diplomacy

McNamee told eNCA Rasool was a diplomat, not an activist.

“He had one job to do, and the reality is, the nature of diplomacy is you have to represent your country’s interests in states that leaders may be doing very, very bad things; that’s the nature of the game.

“So, although President Trump has been very, very disruptive, it is not in the nature of diplomacy to conduct himself the way that he has. I’m very confused about whether anything was premeditated, but I don’t think it was,” McNamee said.

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Rasool on Trump’s policy

Rasool’s expulsion came after his participation in a seminar by the Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Reflection on Trump’s policy stance on South Africa.

Rasool claimed that Trump (and, later, Musk) are leading a global white supremacist movement.

“I think what Donald Trump is doing is launching an assault on incumbency, those who are in power, by mobilising a supremacism against the incumbency, at home, and – I think I’ve illustrated – abroad as well,” Rasool said.

SA foreign policy

McNamee added that South Africa will not change its core foreign policies just because Trump has won a second term.

“If we look at the example of Canada, our [Canadian to US) ambassador, Kirsten Hillman, we are in a situation where Trump is threatening annexation of Canada, turning it into the 51^st state, if you watch a clip of her, you see how calm and measured she is, not rising to provocations. That’s what diplomacy has to be in these periods of crisis.”

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McNamee said South Africa has to take a historical perspective to repair the strained relations with the US.

He expected that US-SA relations are going to deteriorate further.

“I would expect that this latest incident is going to fortify those in Washington who want to punish South Africa further. So, of course the African Growth and Opportunity Act, but I would think perhaps individual sanctions on South Africans is a possibility.

Who takes over?

He also weighed in on Rasool’s possible successor, suggesting “someone like Trevor Manuel”.

“[You need] someone who has vast international experience and huge experience in terms of global financial structures, talking to these kinds of people at that level. He has the stature and gravitas. I’m not sure many people in South Africa can fill that role at the moment other than someone like him,” McNamee said.

SA responds

SA Presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said the expulsion of Rasool was regrettable, urging all relevant and impacted stakeholders to “maintain the established diplomatic decorum in their engagement with the matter”.

He said there would be no retaliation or challenge to the US’ decision.

“On the expulsion of Ambassador Rasool, while regrettable, there are lessons to be drawn from the experience, and we will reflect on that lesson,” said Magwenya.

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