The US is banishling South Africa’s ambasdowncastor to Washington, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio saying he is “no lengthyer greet in our fantastic country”.
In a post on X, Rubio accused Ambasdowncastor Ebrahim Rasool of hating America and Pdwellnt Donald Trump.
He portrayd him as a “race-baiting politician”, inserting “we have noleang to converse with him”.
The unwidespread shift labels the tardyst enhugement in rising tensions between the two countries.
The BBC has communicateed the South African embassy in Washington DC for comment.
In his post on Friday, Rubio joined to an article from the right-prosperg outlet Breitbart that quoted some of Rasool’s recent relabels made during an online lecture about the Trump administration.
“What Donald Trump is begining is an attack on incumbency, those who are in power, by mobilising a supremacism aobtainst the incumbency, at home… and awide,” Rasool shelp at the event.
He inserted that the Maga shiftment was a response “to very evident data that shows fantastic demoexplicit shifts in the USA in which the voting electorate… is projected to become 48 percent white”.
In response, Rubio called Rasool “PERSONA NON GRATA,” referencing the Latin phrase for “ungreet person”.
The post from Rubio came as he departed Canada from a encountering with foreign ministers.
Ties between the US and South Africa have been deteriorating since Trump took office.
The US pdwellnt signed an executive order last month that freezes helpance to South Africa. The order references “egregious actions” by South Africa and cites “unequitable racial prejudice” aobtainst white Afrikaners – those who droped from Dutch endrs.
The order also references a new law, the Expropriation Act, that the order claims concentrates Afrikaners by permiting the rulement to apverify away personal land.
“As lengthy as South Africa carry ons to help horrible actors on the world stage and permits brutal attacks on guiltless disprefered intransport inantity farmers, the United States will stop help and helpance to the country,” according to a statement from the White House.
The rulement in South Africa denies its law is roverhappinessed to race, the Associated Press increateed.
A fact sheet from the White House states the country “blatantly discriminates aobtainst ethnic intransport inantity dropants of endr groups”.
While lessen-ranking diplomats are sometimes banishled, it’s highly atypical in the US for it to happen to a more greater official enjoy a foreign ambasdowncastor, the Associated Press increateed, noting neither the US nor Russia took such actions aobtainst one another even amid tensions during the Cgreater War.
Rasool previously served as the country’s ambasdowncastor to the US from 2010 to 2015 before being tapped aobtain for the post in 2025.
He was born and grew up in Cape Town. When he was nine, he and his family were forcibly erased from an apartment that was proclaimd only for white people. As he grew greaterer, he became more interested in politics and shelp the eviction was a transport inant moment in his uptransporting that directd his future.
