US to expel South Africa ambassador as relations deteriorate

Map of Africa
U.S. Secretary of State Marco
Rubio announced Friday that South Africa's ambassador to Washington had been
declared persona non grata, signaling worsening relations between the two
countries.
In a post on X, Rubio said South
Africa's ambassador to the U.S., Ebrahim Rasool, was "no longer welcome in
our great country."
"Ebrahim Rasool is a
race-baiting politician who hates America and hates @POTUS [President of the
United States]."
There has been no immediate
response from South Africa's embassy in Washington.
Rubio's move came amid tense
relations between the U.S. and South Africa. President Donald Trump recently
signed an executive order suspending aid to South Africa over a controversial
land expropriation act that Trump said would lead to the takeover of
white-owned farms. Trump also said that South African farmers were welcome to
settle in the United States.
South Africa's President Cyril
Ramaphosa, in a post on X, defended his government's measure.
"We are guided by the
Constitution, which places a responsibility on the state to take measures to
redress the effects of past racial discrimination," he said.
"We have expressed concern about the mischaracterisation of the situation in South Africa and certain of our laws and our foreign policy positions," Ramaphosa said after Trump signed the executive order in early February.
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