- The US has given the expelled Ambassador to the United States, Ebrahim Rasool, 72 hours to leave.
- Rasool was expelled on Friday following comments he made during a webinar.
- Pretoria is making arrangements for his return as well as appointing a replacement.
South Africa’s expelled Ambassador to the United States, Ebrahim Rasool, has been given 72 hours to leave that country.
Chrispin Phiri, spokesperson for International Relations and Cooperation Minister Ronald Lamola, confirmed to News24 that Pretoria was arranging to have him “back very soon”.
Once in South Africa, Rasool will be expected to debrief Pretoria.
Phiri said Pretoria had received official confirmation from the SA mission in the US late on Friday night that Rasool had been expelled.
READ | Expelled: This is what earned SA Ambassador to the US Ebrahim Rasool persona non grata status
Rasool, who returned to Washington as SA’s ambassador in December, was expelled by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Rasool had also previously served as US ambassador from 2010 to 2015, when Barack Obama was the president.Rubio wrote in a post on X that Rasool “is no longer welcome in our great country”, and that the US now considers him “persona non grata”.
Rasool’s expulsion stemmed from comments he made while addressing a webinar facilitated by the think-tank, Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Reflection.
Among other things, he accused US President Donald Trump’s administration of supremacism.
Speaking to News24 on Saturday, Phiri said: “Ambassador Rasool has 72 hours to leave the United States and hence we are facilitating his return.”
He added:
And then, from there, Pretoria will assess the next steps that need to be done and attend to replace him.
Phiri said Rasool’s expulsion was regrettable as there had been “positive developments” between the two countries – and the process to expel him had, to some extent, scuttled those. “Nonetheless, we are determined to ensure that our relationship with the United States not only remains mutually respectful, but mutually beneficial. “So ensuring that we have a very capable and able replacement for our Ambassador Rasool is critical… And also with someone who carries the full authority of the South African government,” he said, adding that it was important for Pretoria to ensure it continued engagements with Washington.
He also said the correct diplomatic channel would have been for the US to rather have Rasool understand the context in which he made his remarks at the webinar before making any decision. However, the US chose not to follow that process.
“They’ve gone through another process rather than just declaring our Ambassador PNG [persona non grata]. So that’s the route that they have chosen, and we will have to respect the decision as a sovereign state,” said Phiri.
Meanwhile, speaking to the SABC on Saturday, Lamola said the expulsion of Rasool was an unprecedented, regrettable decision by the US as it was not done via normal diplomatic relations.
READ| US’ expulsion of Rasool ‘regrettable’, diplomatic decorum must be maintained, says Presidency
“It is also regrettable because he was at a very advanced stage to prepare for the special envoys, to reset the relations and so forth. But we are now where we are… we have to work with what we have, and that is what we will continue to do because we believe the relationship between the two countries is mutually beneficial, it is strategic, and it has to be maintained.”
Lamola added:
We need to find time to engage with each other behind closed doors, where the US can raise their concerns with us, and we can also raise our concerns with them because it is not helpful to engage in megaphone and Twitter diplomacy. But we have to engage each other face-to-face on various issues of mutual concern.
He said South Africa would continue to engage and open the lines of diplomatic engagements with the US.
Lamola said it was unfortunate the Trump administration had taken the route of engaging in tweets, adding that this was not helpful in mending the relationship.
