South African Ambassador to the US, Ebrahim Rasool, was welcomed like a hero when he arrived at Cape Town International Airport on Sunday after being expelled by the Trump administration. Hundreds of supporters turned up to welcome him and his family, and police had to provide an escort to get them to their car.
Speaking to the crowd with a megaphone, Rasool said, “A declaration of persona non grata is intended to humiliate you. But when you come back to crowds like this, and with affection like this, then I will wear my persona non grata as a badge of dignity.” He added that although his return was involuntary, he had “no regrets.”
Tensions Between South Africa and the US
Rasool’s expulsion follows growing tensions between South Africa and the US during President Donald Trump’s presidency. On February 7, Trump signed an executive order reducing economic assistance to South Africa based on “government actions fuelling disproportionate violence against racially disfavoured landowners.” The order mentioned Afrikaners Dutch and French colonial settlers’ descendants specifically as being targeted by Trump’s administration as victims of “unjust racial discrimination.
Moreover, South Africa’s legal action against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for alleged genocide in Gaza has also strained diplomatic relations further.
Rubio Declares Rasool ‘Persona Non Grata’
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio was instrumental in the ousting of Rasool, who he labelled a “race-baiting politician” and accused of Trump hostility. Rubio’s X post was a reference to an article by Breitbart which cited Rasool as saying that Trump was “mobilising supremacism” and had adopted “white victimhood” as a political tactic.
Despite the controversy, the South African government reportedly attempted to downplay Rasool’s grand reception to avoid escalating tensions with the US.
