Dirco begins search for replacement for expelled ambassador Ebrahim Rasool

The Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco) has begun the process of finding a replacement for expelled Ambassador Ebrahim Rasool, with suggestions that former Trade and Industry minister Ebrahim Patel may get the hot seat.

Rasool was expelled from the United States last week after sharing his opinion on US President Donald Trump's presidency during a webinar. 

US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, then described Rasool as a "race-baiting politician who hates America" and Trump.

On Tuesday, US State Department Spokesperson Tammy Bruce said that Rasool failed to accord the US the necessary respect as a diplomat meant to foster better relationships and his remarks about Trump's administration were both unacceptable and obscene.

According to Chrispin Phiri, spokesperson for Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Ronald Lamola, the department has started the process of finding a replacement for Rasool. 

"The process has started to some extent so that we can make a recommendation to the president," Phiri said.

Phiri said that the department would follow the processes outlined in the Foreign Services Act, and this may take some time. 

"The Act can take a life of its own, but that is why we have started in the interim all the administrative processes, so that the other processes with other sister departments are expedited," he said.

Without divulging any names, President Cyril Ramaphosa, while speaking to journalists this week, said he was expecting Rasool to give him a full report when he returns on Sunday.

“Ebrahim Rasool will be coming back soon as the US department has ruled that he is no longer acceptable from the US. So I'm expecting a full report when he gets back,” Ramaphosa said. 

He added that engagements with the US were ongoing.

Sources closer to the government said that former Trade and Industry minister Ebrahim Patel was touted to replace Rasool while others said that Ramaphosa could take the option of not appointing an ambassador during the Trump administration.  

Meanwhile, former diplomat Kingsley Makhubela has described Rasool's comments as "undiplomatic".

Makhubela, who had previously served as the country's ambassador to Portugal and Kenya, said that whether right or wrong in his view, it was inappropriate for Rasool to express his personal opinion amidst diplomatic tensions.

"Once he started to venture into the domestic space, the lingo, the language, everything used here is so polarised, and he got involved in that, he got entangled in that.

"He used language that a sitting ambassador  should not have used to describe the president that he's accredited to," Makhubela said.

Makhubela added that Rasool's actions were reckless and that he should have been more cautious in his comments.

"He was reckless, he was not cautious and he paid the price," he said.

Faiez Jacobs, a friend and colleague of Rasool's, has come to his defence, saying that Rasool was asked to provide an analysis on the current situation in the US and did so in a "very objective, academic" way.

Jacobs said that Rasool was not trying to stir trouble but was simply expressing his honestly held views.

International relations expert Dr Noluthando Phungula, from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, said appointing another ambassador will indicate to the US that SA still values its relations. 

“Rasool was negligent in his utterances on social media,” Phungula said.