South African ambassador Ebrahim Rasool, expelled from the United States following a diplomatic dispute with former President Donald Trump’s administration, arrived back in South Africa on Sunday to a raucous reception. Addressing hundreds of supporters in Cape Town, Rasool struck a defiant tone over his removal, maintaining that he had no regrets.
“It was not our choice to come home, but we come home with no regrets,” Rasool declared, responding to accusations from Washington that labeled him a “race-baiting politician” who harbored hostility toward Trump.
Rasool’s expulsion marks a new low in diplomatic relations between Pretoria and Washington, which have been downward since Trump slashed US financial aid to South Africa. The cuts were linked to multiple foreign policy disagreements, including South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice and allegations by Trump that the country’s land reform policies discriminate against white farmers.
Last week, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio justified Rasool’s expulsion, citing remarks in which the ambassador described Trump’s “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) movement as a “supremacist reaction to diversity” in the United States.
Speaking to supporters upon his return, Rasool defended his comments, asserting that he was engaging South African intellectuals and political leaders on the evolving dynamics of US foreign policy.
“Unless we change our way of speaking to the US and recognize what it is today—it is not the US of Obama, it is not the US of Clinton—it is a different US,” Rasool said. “Our language must change, not only to focus on transactions but also to address a group that has clearly identified a fringe white community in South Africa as their constituency.”
The dispute intensified in February when Trump froze US aid to South Africa, citing a controversial law that he claimed allows land to be forcibly taken from white farmers. This month, Trump escalated tensions further by stating that South African farmers were welcome to settle in the United States, repeating his unsubstantiated claims that the South African government was “confiscating” land from white landowners.
Rasool’s return and his strong words suggest that Pretoria is unwilling to back down in the face of US pressure, setting the stage for continued diplomatic friction between the two nations.
