Presidency defends Jonas' appointment as SA envoy to US: 'He will undertake his task'

GQEBERA – The Presidency’s spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, has defended the appointment of Mcebisi Jonas as South Africa’s special envoy to the United States (US) after concerns about his past remarks about President Donald Trump.

There are some concerns that Jonas’ utterances in 2020, where he referred to Trump as a racist and a homophobe, could come back to haunt him.

Just last month, the former ambassador Ebrahim Rasool was expelled from the US after accusing Trump of running a white supremacist movement.

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Speaking on the sidelines of the Cabinet’s engagement with the Eastern Cape government, Magwenya said he doesn’t believe Jonas’ remarks will get him into trouble with the US.

“We believe that Mr [Mcebisi] Jonas will be able to undertake his task. Those comments should be placed in that context, whereas Ambassador [Ebrahim] Rasool was in office, and was serving as South Africa’s ambassador to the United States when he made those comments.

“So there is a distinct difference between the comments that Ambassador Rasool made versus the comments Mr Jonas made when he was a private citizen at the time,” he said on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, an international treaty outlining diplomatic law, permits a host country to reject diplomatic personnel without reason. 

Unlike the process of appointing an ambassador, South Africa is not required to send Jonas’ credentials to the US, as he will only be serving as a special envoy.

However, Section 9 of the treaty highlights that Jonas could also be declared persona non grata should the Trump administration desire to do so.