US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on Friday that the South African ambassador to Washington had been declared persona non grata, reporting a worsening of relations between the two countries.
In an article on X, Rubio said that the South African Ambassador to the United States, Ebrahim Rasol, was “no longer welcome in our big country”.
“Ebrahim Rasool is a politician who hates America and hates @potus (President of the United States).”
There was no immediate response from the South African Embassy in Washington.
Rubio's move occurred in the midst of tense relations between the United States and South Africa. President Donald Trump recently signed a decree to suspend aid to South Africa on a controversial law on the expropriation of land which, according to Trump, would lead to the takeover of the farms belonging to whites. Trump also said that South African farmers were invited to settle in the United States.
The president of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, in a post on X, defended the measure of his government.
“We are guided by the Constitution, which places the responsibility of the State to take measures to repair the effects of past racial discrimination,” he said.
“We have expressed their concern concerning the bad characterization of the situation in South Africa and some of our laws and our foreign policy positions,” said Ramaphosa after Trump signed the beginning decree in early February.
