New special envoy to US, Mcebisi Jonas: 'There are no quick fixes in relation to SA'
In accepting his new role, announced by The Presidency on Monday, the former Deputy Finance Minister has appealed for patience in handling the complexity of the situation.
FILE: Former deputy finance minister, Mcebisi Jonas, reacts during a demonstration march organised by a broad-based coalition called #UniteBehind, to place pressure on MPs to vote for the removal of South African President Jacob Zuma (not visible) before a no-confidence vote by Parliament, on 7 August 2017 in Cape Town. Picture: RODGER BOSCH/AFP
CAPE TOWN - The New special envoy to the United States, Mcebisi Jonas, has warned there are no quick fixes to repairing the country’s fraught relationship with the United States.
In accepting his new role, announced by The Presidency on Monday, the former Deputy Finance Minister has appealed for patience in handling the complexity of the situation.
South Africa has been cut off from aid and subjected to higher trade tariffs under US President Donald Trump’s administration.
Jonas’ appointment follows a pledge made during Ramaphosa’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) in February that he would look to special envoys to explain the country’s laws and policies to the international community.
With the US administration under false impressions about the country’s expropriation laws and the treatment of Afrikaners in South Africa, the job now falls to Mcebisi Jonas to repair the country’s relationship with the world's superpower.
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South Africa’s former ambassador to the US, Ebrahim Rasool, was declared persona non grata and expelled from the country last month after a less than flattering assessment of how the new US administration has been engaging with the global community.
Thanking the President for appointing him to the role of envoy, Jonas says he will do his best to promote a healthy working relationship between the two countries - but he’s fully aware of the difficulties he’s likely to encounter.
“There are no quick fixes in such a complex situation. I appeal that, in the national interest, South Africans exercise patience and allow us time and space to engage fully with different stakeholders in the United States and South Africa,” said Jonas in a statement issued on his behalf by the Department of International Relations and Cooperation.
Despite these complexities, Jonas says he believes there are areas of commonality and mutual interest that can be embraced to reaffirm the long-standing ties between the two nations.
Updates regarding his work will be communicated via the presidency and the Department of International Relations.
Ramaphoisa is yet to appoint a new ambassador to replace Rasool.