The South African ambassador expelled from the United States due to a dispute with President Donald Trump’s administration arrived home on Sunday, receiving a warm and defiant welcome.
Relations between Washington and Pretoria have soured since Trump froze US financial aid to South Africa, accusing the country of promoting anti-white land policies and accusing it of genocide against Israel at the International Court of Justice. These tensions, along with other foreign policy clashes, have deepened.
Upon his arrival in Cape Town, Rasool addressed supporters, saying, “It was not our choice to return, but we do so with no regrets.” He was expelled after calling Trump’s policies a reflection of a supremacist agenda against diversity in the US.
Rasool received a hero’s welcome from hundreds of ANC supporters at Cape Town International Airport. Addressing the crowd, he stated, “We wish we could have returned with the message that we stopped the lie of a white genocide in South Africa, but we couldn’t achieve that in America.”
The former anti-apartheid activist defended his controversial remarks, explaining they were aimed at analyzing the political climate in the US and warning South Africans of the changing dynamics in relations with America.
“Our language needs to evolve,” Rasool explained, “to engage with a group in the US that sees the white community in South Africa as their constituency.”
He also took pride in the fact that his comments reached the highest offices in the US, including the president and Secretary of State.
Badge of Dignity’
Despite the expulsion, Rasool expressed pride in his stance, saying, “The declaration of persona non grata is meant to humiliate, but when you are welcomed back like this… I wear it as a badge of dignity, a symbol of our values and that we did the right thing.”
Tensions between the two nations intensified after Trump froze aid to South Africa, accusing the government of enabling land seizures from white farmers. Further aggravating the situation, Trump has continued to support the notion that white farmers in South Africa are being persecuted.
Rasool is scheduled to report to South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday, but he emphasized that South Africa should not abandon its values in its efforts to improve relations with the US.
South Africa considers improving its relations with the United States a priority, as the US is the country’s second-largest trading partner.
