Cape Town – Political analyst Moeletsi Mbeki has criticised former South African ambassador to the US, Ebrahim Rasool, for publicly stating that Donald Trump and Elon Musk were leading a “global white supremacist movement”.
Rasool was dismissed from the US by Secretary of State Marco Rubio following his involvement in a seminar organised by the Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Reflection, where he discussed Trump’s policy position on South Africa.
Rubio posted on Elon Musk’s social media platform, X, stating that Rasool “is no longer welcome in our great country” and that he was officially deemed “persona non grata”.
South Africa’s Ambassador to the United States is no longer welcome in our great country.
Ebrahim Rasool 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.https://t.co/mnUnwGOQdx
— Secretary Marco Rubio (@SecRubio) March 14, 2025
In an extensive interview with author and broadcaster Sizwe Mpofu-Walsh, Mbeki argued that Rasool, as an ambassador, should have kept such views private, sharing them only with South African officials, not the public.
He believed Rasool’s remarks provoked the US and led to his expulsion.
“I don’t think as an ambassador it was for him to go and make public address about analysis of the ruling party in the United States.
“He is there to represent the president of South Africa and he is there to make an analysis of what’s going on in the US and especially how what is going on is affecting South African interests.
‘Where our ambassador went wrong, was instead of reporting to close communication channels, he goes to a public media to express criticism of his host. He was provoking Americans.’ — Moeletsi Mbeki on Ebrahim Rasool’s expulsion… pic.twitter.com/ImvaOa95yO
— SMWX Clips (@_SMWX) March 22, 2025
“But He is supposed to report to the president of South Africa, not to the public, not to you or me, not to the general public,” Mbeki said.
He added: “Where our ambassador went wrong is that, instead of reporting through a closed communication channel about what he thought of the [Trump] administration, he goes to the public media and expresses his criticism of his host, host government and host president. So, in a way, I think he was provoking the Americans and he got a response which he did not think would happen so quickly.
Mbeki also suggested that if a foreign ambassador made similar comments about South Africa’s president, they should be deported.
“I hope that if we ever have an ambassador from outside coming to South Africa, who will say things of our president that ambassador Rasool said about Trump, I hope we would deport them also,” he said.
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Compiled by Betha Madhomu
