Former ambassador to the US, Ebrahim Rasool, returned to South Africa on Sunday with scores of supporters welcoming him at Cape Town International Airport.
Image: Ayanda Ndamane/Independent Newspapers
Cosatu has urged President Cyril Ramaphosa to send envoys or appoint a chargé d'affaires while he makes a decision on deploying a new ambassador to the United States in the wake of the expulsion of Ebrahim Rasool.
Rasool made headlines after he was expelled from the US for remarks made during a webinar held by the Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Reflection (Mistra).
Former DA leader Tony Leon and former ANC MP Lindiwe Sisulu informally entered the fray to become South Africa's next ambassadors to the US this weekend after DA federal chairperson, Hellen Zille, at the weekend floated Leon’s name while, the Activists and Citizens Forum through its spokesperson, Dennis Bloem, nominated Sisulu as Rasool's replacement.
“It's difficult to kind of debate names, and I think that would make life complicated if we did that publicly, because the Presidency and Dirco (Department of International Relations and Cooperation) have to look at names, and have to assess who makes sense,” Cosatu’s Parliamentary Co-ordinator, Matthew Parks said.
He said that while there may be jostling for the now vacant position of ambassador, that the president may need to consider sending envoys or appointing a chargé d'affaires while he makes a decision.
“To be an ambassador means you have to uproot your life, you must go out of the country, et cetera. Also the difficulty of floating names publicly is that the host government has to accept that name too.
“If we say it should be X, you’ve not engaged with the host government, because all ambassadors in all countries, even for South Africa, would always ask the government quietly beforehand and say this is the person we intend to nominate, here is their CV, ‘are you happy with this person?’
“So the difficulty of people starting to raise their hands publicly, is that it's good for the headlines, so the DA can do that, but that's not how it works across the world,” Parks said.
“In the meantime you could deploy envoys beforehand, as the president talked about, you could also appoint a chargé d'affaires to hold the fort. You don't have the title of ambassador, but you have the title of chargé d'affaires, and basically you have all the access you need. So I think for us that's what needs to be done, but we need to reopen discussions with the US.”
International relations analyst, Siseko Maposa, said that the “DA may push, despite constitutional precedent, for GNU involvement in the selection process”.
“Given competing pressures and the high-stakes nature of the role, the president is expected to deliberate carefully. The final appointment will hinge on aligning multiple variables—from diplomatic expertise to political calculus—before a candidate is deemed fit for office.”
University of Johannesburg’s Professor Isaac Khambule, who is a professor of political economy, said while the DA has suggested Leon, “we definitely know that it is not going to fly very well within the ANC because we know that if Leon was to get such a position, he would go there and promote the DA rather than South Africa's agenda”.
“The difficulty is that we've already seen so quickly how things can change with our relationship with the United States. None of our South African leaders have taken anti-diplomatic channels. They are trying to do this via diplomatic channels.
The presidency and Dirco were contacted for comment, but have yet to respond.
Rasool on Sunday said that a report on the matter will be delivered to the president, but he did not specify a timeline.
“We have started to write that report last week, we will finalise it, and we will be ready for the president with that report.”
In terms of what would be in that report, Parks said it would mention the types of engagements that he had been able to undertake, and that he would reflect on some of the successes and difficulties. He would also touch on the political landscape and what unfolded.
“I think most importantly, you would also obviously have some recommendations about the way forward too. It's an unprecedented territory. We've never had an ambassador expelled (since democracy).”
Maposa added that Rasool’s report will likely serve as an official record of his stance, and “given his post-return remarks, we can expect it to defend his critiques of the U.S. government while reinforcing his position”.
Rasool did not respond to a request for comment.
theolin.tembo@inl.co.za