President Cyril Ramaphosa has confirmed that expelled South African ambassador to the United States, Ebrahim Rasool, will return to the country and provide a full report on the circumstances surrounding his expulsion.
Ramaphosa made the remarks speaking with the media after delivering the keynote address at the Bana Pele Early Childhood Development Leadership Summit in Braamfontein, Gauteng.
”Ebrahim Rasool will be coming back soon after the US State Department has ruled that he is no longer acceptable in the US,” Ramaphosa said.
“He is going to come back and give me a full report. So, I will wait for a full report from him.”
Ramaphosa said he noted the displeasure that has been expressed by the US, particularly Rasool’s remarks, and emphasised that South Africa is engaged in ongoing discussions with the US.
“We have noted that, and we will engage with them as we are already engaging with them,” Ramaphosa said.
"The engagement with them continues and is going to take a variety of forms. It's going to be through envoys. It's going to be through people either from the business community, labour, and a whole number of others, including from the government.”
Improving the country’s relationship with the US is a priority for the South African government, he noted, given the US as the second largest trading partner after China.
“We will therefore seek, as we must, to ensure that our relations are on a good footing, which is one thing that we do with all countries in the world,” he said.
“South Africa always seeks to have good relations with all countries in the world and we don't have enemies in the world.”
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Ramaphosa acknowledged that international relations sometimes go through ups and downs but stressed the importance of addressing the challenges and resolving differences.
“As they go through their ups and downs, the responsible thing to do by any nation is to make sure that you deal with the challenges that there are, you straighten out the difficulties,” he said.
“We have always found that when there are such challenges and we engage, we do find solutions. So, this is precisely what we are now going to do.”
He added: “This is our job and responsibility as a government to advance the interests of our country, as well as the interests of the people of South Africa.”
Meanwhile, political experts have suggested that the US expulsion of the SA ambassador signals a diplomatic shift where South Africa must navigate a challenging political landscape.
IOL Politics