South Africa to engage the US via diplomatic channels following ambassador Ebrahim Rasool's expulsion

JOHANNESBURG - South Africa’s department of international relations says it’ll engage the US via diplomatic channels as America’s secretary of state Marco Rubio moves to expel ambassador Ebrahim Rasool.

Rubio said Rasool was no longer welcome in the United States.

In a post on social media app X – he labelled Rasool a race-baiting politician who hates America and its president Donald Trump.

The latest salvo follows Rasool’s participation in a discussion by the Mapungubwe institute for strategic reflections – in which he shared his thoughts on America’s current approach to foreign policy.

Rasool accused Trump of launching an assault on incumbency through supremacism.

He said pressure on AGOA – resistance to a multi-polar world and attempts to maintain US ideological hegemony are some of the traits the previous and current US administrations have in common.

President Cyril Ramaphosa’s office has noted Rubio’s comments, saying Rasool’s expulsion was regrettable.