South Africa’s foreign minister Ronald Lamola has publicly questioned whether US ambassador Leo Brent Bozell III should be in the job at all, the latest sign of how little goodwill is left between Pretoria and the Trump administration.
The deterioration in ties has simmered for nearly two years, raising fears that Washington may take more economically damaging steps after imposing visa restrictions on unnamed South African officials last month.
Lamola’s comments to South Africa’s Sunday Times came after Bozell said Washington had “run out patience” and that the time for dialogue had passed. Lamola said if Bozell is tired of talking, he ought to “get out of the kitchen … you can’t have a diplomat who says time for talking is over.”
Pretoria has now lodged two public protests against Bozell in seven months, accusing him of meddling in domestic politics. The Trump administration has pressured Pretoria on race-based policies designed to undo the legacy of apartheid. Priyal Singh, an analyst at the Institute for Security Studies think tank in Johannesburg, told Semafor he expects the sparring to continue at least until the US midterms in November as falsehoods that white South Africans face persecution have found a receptive audience among President Donald Trump’s conservative base.