US ambassador is becoming ‘part of the problem’ in Pretoria-Washington ties

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JEREMY MAGGS: Relations between Pretoria and Washington are under fresh strain after the US Ambassador, Leo Brent Bozell, was formally reprimanded for the third time in just nine months, this time over what government describes as “undiplomatic conduct”.

Bozell has publicly accused Pretoria of failing to respond adequately to Washington’s demands, while South Africa is insisting it will engage but will not surrender its sovereignty over domestic policy.

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Let’s put this under the microscope. Lwazi Somya is with us, he is an international relations analyst. Lwazi, welcome to you. So do you think the American ambassador himself has now become part of the problem between Washington and Pretoria?

LWAZI SOMYA: Indeed, Jeremy, the American ambassador himself has become part of the problem between the relationship between Pretoria and Washington, in which South Africa has shown great restraint concerning the ambassador’s utterances.

What governs ambassadors’ behaviour is coming under the Vienna Convention of 1961, where article 41 clearly dictates that diplomatic persons have a duty to not interfere with the internal affairs of the state, and also the diplomatic people are not allowed to make public utterances that should be communicated with the ministry of international relations as set out through the protocol.

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In multiple instances, the ambassador himself has come out in public and conducted public diplomacy that contravenes article 41 of the Vienna Convention.

In most instances, countries would regard the person persona non grata, as we saw with America’s persona non grata on our former Ambassador Ebrahim Rasool in the United States and his return to South Africa under a similar pretext, under article 41.

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But in this instance, South Africa has shown restraint in order to massage the relationship and to ensure that the situation is not escalated by regarding the ambassador persona non grata.

JEREMY MAGGS: Where do you think the line is between robust diplomacy and an ambassador publicly interfering in the domestic affairs of his host country?

LWAZI SOMYA: The line merely lies with how the ambassador engages on these matters. For example, the first demarche the South African government issued on the ambassador was concerning the ambassador’s utterances concerning our Constitutional Court and our courts of this country, where he clearly claimed that he didn’t care about their rulings.

Now these utterances go above and beyond by merely saying that South Africa itself, as a government, is not doing sufficiently when South Africa in its response to the Trump administration and in its worded letter, had clearly addressed three of those matters, one being the court, concerning the Expropriation Bill, and also other aspects such as the diplomatic relations with other countries, issues around the farm killings and also us adhering to our constitutional prescripts.

So some of the aspects that the ambassador wants, such as the president (Cyril Ramaphosa) to declare the kill the boer song, and essentially curbing the freedom of speech that was outlined in the court judgment of South Africans, is one of those unconstitutional acts that the ambassador wants South Africa to undertake.

So part and parcel of [that is] South Africa now has to maintain not only its sovereignty within this situation, but at the same time, it needs to also continue its dialogue with the United States in order to ensure better trade and diplomatic relations going forward.

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JEREMY MAGGS: It’s a difficult position that Pretoria finds itself in. At what point does South Africa have to consider the more serious step of asking Washington to replace him? Are we any closer to that point, do you think?

LWAZI SOMYA: There are a number of considerations that one has to consider, especially now [that] there are a number of political pressures that might be emerging within Washington, considering the midterm elections that are emanating within November in the United States, with the potential of changing both the House of Representatives and Senate.

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In that instance, whichever replacement for Bozell will have to go through a congressional hearing and upon then there will be approval.

But in this instance, should there not be a change in November, South Africa will have to play the patience game and wait it out until the Trump administration comes to a conclusion.

As is evident, the Trump administration in the current form is projecting domestic concerns at the international level, especially concerning issues such as diversity, equality and inclusion (DEI), and that now South Africa has become its victim concerning some of the policy options that South Africa has undertaken to address the historic imbalances of the past, which in the United States itself, there’s a huge fight back on.

So therefore, South Africa’s relationship with the United States, even though it’s in rocky waters, Ambassador Roelf Meyer has clearly articulated that the relationship should proceed far beyond administrations.

JEREMY MAGGS: Just a final one. Do you think that Pretoria is reading the diplomatic room badly? How much responsibility should South Africa itself accept for allowing disagreements over race, policy, land and foreign policy to harden into this broad diplomatic crisis?

LWAZI SOMYA: There’s so much that a state can do, especially concerning an administration that does not take facts into consideration, and especially when an administration doesn’t want to engage.

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Historically, what US administrations would have done when they had concerns with domestic policies within South Africa, they would enter into engagements with the particular government until there was a common consensus and understanding between parties.

It seems in this instance there is a zero-sum game being played by Washington, and the refusal to engage with their South African counterparts concerning these matters.

In that situation, one has to then play the patience game with the administration whilst trying to not forgo one’s sovereignty and one’s domestic priorities at hand.

So Pretoria itself has a difficult road ahead, especially with the threats of escalations by the United States stemming from this.

Therefore, we should [expect] a more rocky path together within the remaining years of the Trump administration. Hopefully, the midterm elections in November will provide some form of buffer system concerning that, where Congress will play a more proactive role.

However, in this current moment, we should [expect] more headwinds with the relationship with the United States until the conclusion of the Trump administration.

JEREMY MAGGS: I appreciate the reading of the room. Lwazi Somya, thank you very much indeed. You are an international relations analyst and commentator.

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