THE decision to expel South Africa’s ambassador to the US, Ebrahim Rasool, points to the country’s potential expulsion from the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which would be another blow to a country that is already grappling with a health crisis following the withdrawal of US aid for HIV related programs.
Enacted about 25 years ago, AGOA grants eligible African countries duty-free access to the US market for certain goods and South Africa’s status is set to be reviewed later this year.
International Relations expert, Siseko Maposa, said in the current geo political landscape, the US's decision to declare Rasool persona non grata was a deliberate move to raise the stakes in likely negotiations.
“While it is uncertain whether this move signals that the US is deeply contemplating a complete severance of relations with South Africa, President Ramaphosa's interest in transactional diplomacy with the US is evident. The prevailing context indicates that the US is attempting to leverage sanctions, potential expulsion from AGOA, and relational abrogation to coax South Africa away from its DEI ( diversity, equity, and inclusion) stance in global politics, which Washington considers ‘Anti-American’. Pretoria, on the other hand, is likely to counter with its valuable minerals, iron ore & steel, and mineral products - which comprised 68% of SA's US-bound exports between January 2024-2025, according to SARS data. Added, South Africa's strategic positioning as one of Africa's gateway economies further bolsters its negotiating hand. These factors will ultimately constitute the pivot points of any negotiations, decisively shaping the trajectory of SA-US relations,” he said.
Rasool’s expulsion on Friday followed comments by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio that he was "a race-baiting politician" who hates the country and its president.
During a webinar hosted by the Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Reflection (MISTRA), titled Implications of changes in US administration for South Africa and Africa, Rasool had said: “I think what Donald Trump is launching is an assault on incumbency: those who are in power by mobilising a supremacism against the incumbency at home, and I think I’ve illustrated this, abroad as well. So, in terms of that, the supremacist assault on incumbency we see in the domestic politics of the US - the MAGA movement, the Make America Great Again movement - as a response not simply to a supremacist instinct, but to very clear data that shows great demographic shifts in the US, in which the voting electorate in the US is projected to become 48% white, and the possibility of a majority of minorities is looming on the horizon. That needs to be factored in so that we understand some of the things we think are instinctive, nativist, racist things. I think there’s data that for example, would support that: the wall being built, the deportation movement, etc.”
This was the latest move by the Trump administration, which has punished South Africa by withdrawing funding to crucial programmes over unproven claims that this country’s government confiscated land from minorities.
Further fuelling tensions, he said South Africa's Afrikaners were welcome to settle in the US after repeating his accusations that the government was "confiscating" land from white people.
Rasool’s expulsion apparently came on the brink of long-awaited talks between the two nations.
The Department of International Relations said they were in close contact with Rasool who had mere days to leave the US, with the March 21 deadline looming.
“Ambassador Rasool was on the verge of an engagement with strategic officials in the White House. This regrettable development has scuttled the significant progress.
“We regret that this incident of withdrawing and expelling him without the normal process and diplomacy that is supposed to follow. So, there is nothing more now that you can really do,” said Dirco spokesperson, Chrispin Phiri.
The EFF has weighed in on the latest move saying the hostile position adopted by the Trump administration against South Africa was “not surprising”.
“Trump is surrounded by white South Africans who fled this country in the 80s and 90s when it was clear that black majority rule was inevitable. These forces working alongside local white supremacists’ groups have been lobbying the US government to intervene in the domestic affairs of our country. Their objective is to put pressure on the South African government to give in to their demands of not implementing the Expropriation Bill, National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill and the Basic Education Laws Amendment Act (BELA). The only reason these racist organisations do not want these Bills to be implemented is their fear of being equal to the majority of the population of the country, they hate and fear equality.
“The EFF agrees with the characterisation given by ambassador Rasool that the American president is the grand wizard of a global ku klux klan dressed up as Make America Great Again (MAGA). It is therefore not surprising to see the resurgence of right-wing groups in South Africa emboldened by their new found master and savior of the white race, hence the endless trips to America to pursue the failed dreams of a white volkstaat at the southern tip of Africa.”
Cape Times