Ebrahim Rasool's comments were undiplomatic, says former ambassador Kingsley Makhubela
Rasool told a seminar of the Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Reflection that US President Donald Trump’s governance is premised on white supremacy.
FILE: Ebrahim Rasool speaks at a panel at Shared Interest's 20th Anniversary Awards Gala at Gotham Hall on 27 February 2014 in New York City. Picture: THOS ROBINSON / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP
CAPE TOWN - Former diplomat Kingsley Makhubela is of the view that Ebrahim Rasool’s comments that got him expelled as the ambassador to the United States (US), were undiplomatic.
Rasool told a seminar of the Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Reflection that US President Donald Trump’s governance is premised on white supremacy.
Makhubela who has previously served as the country’s ambassador to Portugal and Kenya says whether right or wrong in his view, it was inappropriate for Rasool to express it.
When former US ambassador to South Africa Reuben Brigety claimed in 2023 that South Africa was supplying Russia with weapons that were being shipped out of Simon’s Town - he was demarched by former International Relations Minister Naledi Pandor.
No such concessions were made by the US for ambassador Rasool when Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced his immediate expulsion in a social media post on Friday.
While the government is being cautious in expressing a view on Rasool’s actions, former diplomat Makhubela says Rasool was reckless.
“Once he started to venture into the domestic space, the lingo, the language, everything used here. It’s so polarised, and he got involved in that, he got entangled in that, and used the language that as a sitting ambassador he should not have used to describe the president that he’s accredited to.”
International Relations spokesperson Chrispin Phiri says the department’s focus is getting Rasool home to discuss what has transpired.
“You can have that analysis to say that may not have been the place to make that statement, and that may not have been the appropriate thing to say, but the fact is where are here now. He’s been declared a persona non grata and that’s what we have to confront.”
The former Western Cape premier and his wife, are due back in Cape Town on Sunday.
ALSO READ:
• DIRCO expects full debrief from Ambassador Rasool in wake of expulsion from US
• Ramaphosa awaits full report from expelled ambassador Rasool upon return
• Expelled ambassador to US Ebrahim Rasool says he has no regrets