Rasool in the MAGA Lion’s Den

SOUTH AFRICA finally has a new ambassador to the USA: Ebrahim Rasool, who held the position from 2010 to 2015. This is South Africa's most important diplomatic post, but it has been vacant for a long time, following a disastrous term by the previous ambassador, Nomaindia Mfeketo.

Rasool's previous term was widely regarded as successful. However, that was during the presidency of Barack Obama, and now Rasool will have to deal with a Donald Trump administration. (Perhaps he should introduce himself to Trump as the envoy from “that shithole country at the far south of the African continent”.)

It will be a challenging task to sell South Africa's stance of “international non-alignment” and role in the Brics group to Washington. Trump and the Republican Party majorities in the Senate and House of Representatives do not have much interest in Africa – as long as African states stay in line and are not seen as too cosy with the “enemy”, especially China and Iran.

Pretoria's friendly ties with Vladimir Putin might not be as big a problem for Trump, but the genocide case South Africa has brought against Israel at the International Court of Justice certainly is.

Rasool (62) will face a significant challenge in persuading Trump and Congress to renew next year’s trade agreement under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa). If this agreement is discontinued, as some Republican lawmakers demand, it could especially hurt the agricultural sector.

The presidential emergency plan for Aids relief (Pepfar) to South Africa, which has amounted to around $8 billion over the last 20 years, also needs to be renewed soon.

Making South Africa great again

An indication of the Trump camp's view on SA-USA relations can be found in an opinion piece by a senior editor at Trump supporter Steve Bannon’s Breitbart News, the South African-born Joel B. Pollak, which was published on Politicsweb: How Trump could Make South Africa Great Again.

“Trump has an opportunity to Make South Africa Great Again,” writes Pollak, but there are strict conditions. The first is that “South Africa has to stop overtly aligning with the world’s bad guys”, meaning “Russia, China, Iran, and other pariahs”.

“Backing Hamas, and bringing spurious genocide charges against Israel – which is defending itself against Iranian-backed terrorists – at the International Court of Justice is a sign that South Africa no longer stands on the side of civilisation,” writes Pollak.

Trump could help ensure that South Africa hosts the Olympic Games, says Pollak; Elon Musk could help solve its energy problems, and America could help South Africa with its crime problem. This is on condition, among other things, that South Africa implements economic reforms, abandons black empowerment regulations and reinstates the commando system to curb farm attacks.

Pollak criticises the decision to name a street in Johannesburg after Palestinian plane hijacker Leila Khaled, and says if it goes through, the US consulate in Johannesburg should be closed.

“South Africa has to make it clear that it supports the West. If it wants favourable trade from the US, like extensions of Agoa, it should not count on American magnanimity,” writes Pollak.

During his previous term as ambassador, Rasool received significant recognition for his efforts to foster dialogue between the Obama administration and Muslims.

He was born in District Six, but was only nine years old when his family was forced to move to the Cape Flats. He earned a BA degree and teaching diploma from the University of Cape Town. He was active in the UDF and was detained for months without trial. He served as premier of the Western Cape between 2004 and 2008 and then as an ANC member of parliament until his appointment as ambassador.

In 2009, there were allegations that he paid a Cape Town journalist to write favorable stories about him, but he strongly denied this, and it was never proven.

♦ VWB ♦

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