Last month, President Donald Trump signed an executive order cutting federal aid to South Africa, objecting to its land policy.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that the United States is expelling the South African ambassador, saying he is “no longer welcome in our great country.”
In a March 14 post on the social media platform X, Rubio said Ebrahim Rasool, South Africa’s ambassador to the United States, “is a race-baiting politician who hates America and hates @POTUS.”
“We have nothing to discuss with him and so he is considered PERSONA NON GRATA,” Rubio said.
Last month, President Donald Trump signed an executive order cutting federal aid to South Africa, objecting to its land policy and a genocide case the nation made against U.S.-ally Israel at the International Court of Justice.
The White House wrote in a summary of the order that the South African government is discriminating against the nation’s white minority, namely “ethnic minority descendants of settler groups.”
South Africa responded by calling the move regrettable in statements from its presidency and international relations department, saying it would stay engaged in advancing mutually beneficial relations while confronting the matter with diplomacy.
In his post, Rubio shared an article from Breitbart that quoted Rasool saying Trump was at the forefront of a white supremacist movement. On Saturday, a State Department spokesperson said the ambassador must depart by March 21.
Semafor reported earlier this week that Rasool has been unable to establish routine meetings with State Department officials since the president took office on Jan. 20.
Citing South Africa’s land policy, its growing ties with Iran and Russia, and “aggressive positions” toward America and allies, the U.S. is reviewing its relations with the nation, the State Department spokesperson added.
Patrick Gaspard, a former U.S. ambassador to South Africa, said the U.S.-South Africa relationship “has now reached its lowest point.”
“There’s too much at stake to not work towards the repair of this partnership.”
Rasool offered his credentials to then-President Joe Biden on Jan. 13 for a second term as an ambassador to Washington, one week before Trump was inaugurated, according to the embassy’s website.
Trump has accused South Africa of confiscating land and of treating “certain classes of people,” mainly the ethnic minority Afrikaners, “very badly.”
In January, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa signed a bill into law that makes it easier for the government to expropriate certain land in the public interest, sometimes without compensating the owner.
Ramaphosa has defended the legislation by suggesting it equalizes racial disparities in land ownership in the black-majority nation, saying the government has not seized any land.
Trump has also pledged to resettle white South African farmers and their families, giving them refugee status. Coordinating with the Department of Homeland Security, the State Department has started implementing the plan, with initial interviews in process, the State Department spokesperson said.
Reuters contributed to this report.