The United States has declared Ebrahim Rasool, who is the South African ambassador to the US, persona non grata, meaning he must leave the country. This decision was announced by Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday, who accused Rasool of promoting racial division and being hostile towards America and President Donald Trump.
As of late tensions between the two nations have only increased. In February, Trump stopped US aid to South Africa, saying that its land reforms policies was unfair for white farmers. And last week, he said that South African farmers should probably come to the US, saying that their land was being confiscated. This statement was not very well received in South Africa, where land ownership is quite the issue even decades after apartheid. Most farmland is still in the hands of white citizens.
Rubio brought up Rasool’s recent remarks that made it sound like Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement had links with white supremacy and said that his comparison to Israel’s actions in Gaza to apartheid as reasons for his expulsion from the US. Rasool, spoken often about the Palestine issue, advocating for Palestinian rights. He said in a February interview that the issues faced in South Africa “are on steroids in Palestine.”
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa initially said that his early discussions with Trump were good, but he later said that their relationship has become strained. Tesla CEO Elon Musk, a South African born ally of Trump, has labeled the South Africa's policies as “openly racist.”