Latest news with #Rasool
IOL News
10 minutes ago
- Politics
- IOL News
Why Rasool believes Ramaphosa should be cautious in selecting a new ambassador
Former South African Ambassador to the US Ebrahim Rasool. Image: Armand Hough/Independent Newspapers Ebrahim Rasool, the former South African Ambassador to the US, asserts that President Cyril Ramaphosa's cautious approach to appointing a new ambassador is not just wise—it's essential in the wake of recent diplomatic upheaval. In an exclusive interview with Independent Media at the G20 Interfaith Forum (IF20) on Monday in Cape Town, Rasool said the question the country must ask itself is whether it wants to go through the embarrassment of nominating an ambassador, and then having them wait, which was the original plan by the Republicans with him. Rasool said he was fortunate to have been credentialed by former US President Joe Biden in his last week of office. 'The question is, do we want to go through that embarrassment of the US making our ambassador stay in limbo for a few months, and then because we have nominally appointed an ambassador, it cuts other channels of communication. 'This (current) state shows that you can still pick up the phone, without going through the embassy. That is the one reason why it is correct to be cautious. The second reason is that you cannot allow the US to choose our ambassador to their country for themselves, because what you then do is that you get an echo chamber…then we have someone who goes 'Yes, Mr Trump, you are right'.' Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Ad loading 'Thirdly, if you choose even a mildly independent ambassador, you will not find such a person of integrity who, at some point or other, did not express disquiet about the direction of the United States under President Trump.' Rasool touched on Mcebisi Jonas, Ramaphosa's special envoy to the US, who was rejected by Washington in May this year. 'Here is an astute business person, but his astuteness economically is also his astuteness politically, and therefore, you won't find a clean slate in terms of that.' On who could replace the vacant position, he said that 'because people say a white skin can more easily go into the White House, (I've thought) that if you can find a white person with the right values, and in that regard, I threw out the name Marthinus van Schalkwyk. 'Someone whose growth from the National Party to the ANC I have watched, and I think that not him per se, but that that is the kind of person that we can use to satisfy two things - the love of a white skin in the White House, and the values that our country needs presently,' Rasool said. Get your news on the go, click here to join the Cape Argus News WhatsApp channel. Cape Argus
IOL News
12 hours ago
- Politics
- IOL News
Rasool: 'Ramaphosa is correct to be cautious in appointing a new ambassador'
Former South African Ambassador to the US Ebrahim Rasool. Image: Theolin Tembo/Independent Newspapers Former South African Ambassador to the United States (U.S) Ebrahim Rasool said that President Cyril Ramaphosa is correct to be cautious in appointing a new ambassador after Rasool was expelled from the United States. In an exclusive interview with Independent Media at the G20 Interfaith Forum (IF20) on Monday in Cape Town, Rasool said the question the country must ask itself is whether it wants to go through the embarrassment of nominating an ambassador, and then having them wait, which was the original plan by the Republicans with him. Rasool said that he was fortunate to have been credentialed by former US President Joe Biden in his last week of office. 'The question is, do we want to go through that embarrassment of the US making our ambassador stay in limbo for a few months, and then because we have nominally appointed an ambassador, it cuts other channels of communication. 'This (current) state shows that you can still pick up the phone, without going through the embassy. That is the one reason why it is correct to be cautious. The second reason is that you cannot allow the US to choose our ambassador to their country for themselves, because what you then do is that you get an echo chamber…then we have someone who goes 'Yes, Mr Trump, you are right'.' Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Ad loading 'Thirdly, if you choose even a mildly independent ambassador, you will not find such a person of integrity who, at some point or other, did not express disquiet about the direction of the United States under President Trump.' Rasool even touched on Mcebisi Jonas, President Cyril Ramaphosa's special envoy to the United States, who was rejected by Washington in May this year. 'Here is an astute business person, but his astuteness economically is also his astuteness politically, and therefore, you won't find a clean slate in terms of that.' On who could replace the vacant position, he said that 'because people say a white skin can more easily go into the White House, (I've thought) that if you can find a white person with the right values, and in that regard, I threw out the name Marthinus van Schalkwyk. 'Someone whose growth from the National Party to the ANC I have watched, and I think that not him per se, but that that is the kind of person that we can use to satisfy two things - the love of a white skin in the White House, and the values that our country needs presently,' Rasool said. Rasool also commented on South Africa's current relationship with the United States, to which he said that it is not isolated because countries like India and Brazil, and even the European Union (EU), are also experiencing bullying from the US. 'South Africa's relationship with the United States has a particular tint to it, but it is not atypical. Sometimes South Africans think that it is only done unto us, when you look at what President Trump has done to Brazil, because a buddy of his, (former President) Jair Bolsonaro, has been charged with corruption. 'You think what he has done to India, because it allegedly buys oil from Russia, if you look at what he has done to the EU because they don't spend as much on their defence as they should - then South Africa is just one of a few that he has put into his cross-hairs, and where he is driving a hard agenda - a pernicious and punishing agenda against such countries. 'We are, in a sense, in good company when we consider who else he has put in his cross hairs. The question is not to watch South Africa, as if South Africa is isolated, it is to watch the growing isolation of the United States of America.
TimesLIVE
04-08-2025
- Politics
- TimesLIVE
Process to appoint ambassador to US at advanced stage: Lamola
The process to appoint a new ambassador to the US is at an advanced stage, international relations and co-operation (Dirco) minister Ronald Lamola told journalists on Monday. Lamola was speaking during a media briefing with trade, industry and competition minister Parks Tau. He said the process to appoint an ambassador was not easy due to the expulsion of former ambassador Ebrahim Rasool earlier this year, adding that President Cyril Ramaphosa has been giving careful consideration and due diligence. In March US secretary of state Marco Rubio shocked South Africans when he posted on social media platform X that Rasool was 'no longer welcome' in the US. 'Ebrahim Rasool is a race-baiting politician who hates America and hates at @POTUS. We have nothing to discuss with him and so he is considered persona non grata. ' This was in reaction to Rasool's comments at a foreign policy seminar where he reportedly told attendees US President Donald Trump was leading a white supremacist movement in America and the world.
IOL News
21-07-2025
- Politics
- IOL News
Cyril Ramaphosa faces pressure to appoint US ambassador as tariffs loom
President Cyril Ramaphosa has been urged to appoint a US ambassador 'urgently' amidst impending tariffs. . Image: Supplied While the Presidency announced the appointment of Ambassador Vivianne Fock Tave as the new Seychelles Ambassador to the United Nations in New York on Monday, partners in the Government of National Unity (GNU) are intensifying calls for President Cyril Ramaphosa to appoint an ambassador to the United States as a matter of urgency. This comes days before the implementation of 30% tariffs on South African products exported to the US, imposed by President Donald Trump's administration. South Africa has been without an ambassador to the US since March when Ebrahim Rasool was expelled over comments deemed an attack on the Trump administration. In response, Ramaphosa appointed Mcebisi Jonas as a special envoy. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Ad loading However, the DA revealed that the US government denied Jonas a diplomatic visa in May and informed the Presidency that he would not be recognised as South Africa's official interlocutor. Jonas and Rasool are both seen as Trump's adversaries after they criticised him on two different occasions. In mid-March 2025, the Trump administration expelled Rasool as South Africa's ambassador to the US, following his critical comments about the US government during a webinar. Rasool had characterised the "Make America Great Again" movement as partly a reaction to "a supremacist instinct" and anticipated demographic changes in the US, specifically the projected decline of the white population to minority status. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio publicly denounced Rasool as a "race-baiting politician who hates America" and declared him persona non grata. In 2020, Jonas referred to Trump as "a racist, homophobic, and narcissistic right-winger", which resurfaced following his appointment as Special Envoy to the US. This exclusion of the two officials coincided with escalating tensions between the US and South Africa, fuelled by the US disapproval of South Africa's legal proceedings against Israel at the International Court of Justice and the US freezing aid to South Africa. GOOD Party secretary-general Brett Herron emphasised the need for Ramaphosa to take the nation into his confidence and update citizens on the Washington strategy. "Ramaphosa must update the nation on Washington strategy. President Cyril Ramaphosa owes the nation an update on progress... with the nation's diplomatic relationship with the US," Herron said. Another GNU partner, the IFP, during a media briefing on Monday, also urged Ramaphosa to appoint an ambassador as a priority. IFP national spokesperson Mkhuleko Hlengwa said the party is expecting the president to appoint the ambassador as a matter of urgency, given the diplomatic fallout between the two countries. He further stated that urgency was also necessary because South Africa will hand over the G20 Presidency to the US. Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) spokesperson, Chrispin Phiri, referred questions to the Presidency. However, Presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya did not respond to questions on what the status of appointing an ambassador was. Last week, the Presidency and the DA were engaged in a war of words after the DA revealed that despite being aware of the US rejection of Jonas's credentials, the Presidency continued to present him as the special envoy to North America. "The United States of America denied Mcebisi Jonas a diplomatic visa in May this year. The US government has formally rejected Jonas's credentials...," the DA initially stated. In response, the Presidency warns against treating DA disinformation on international relations as official government policy. "Special Envoys do not present credentials, and Mr Jonas's role, while supportive of DTIC (Department of Trade, Industry and Competition) and DIRCO in trade negotiations and diplomatic relations, does not supersede them. He has been assisting in developing trade proposals and resetting diplomatic ties. "President Ramaphosa has not urgently required Mr Jonas to visit the US due to ongoing processes and recent contact with President Trump. The Presidency is concerned about the DA's persistent campaign against South Africa's national interest, originating from their ideological visit to the US earlier this year. The DA is attempting to use a foreign state to change national policies and is exploiting critical engagements to protest President Ramaphosa's removal of Mr Andrew Whitfield,' Magwenya said. He further said the DA's insults against other nations and international organisations harm South Africa's international relations and could negatively impact businesses and livelihoods dependent on global trade. The impending 30% tariffs on South African exports to the US, expected to take effect next month, pose significant challenges to South Africa's economy. Additionally, South Africa is on the brink of losing its African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) status when it expires this year. AGOA enables economic growth and development in sub-Saharan Africa by providing eligible countries with duty-free access to the US market for thousands of products.
Shafaq News
29-06-2025
- Politics
- Shafaq News
Ex-military spokesman joins Iraq's parliamentary race
Shafaq News – Baghdad Yehya Rasool, Iraq's former spokesperson for the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, announced his candidacy for the upcoming parliamentary elections scheduled for November 11. In a post on X, Rasool revealed on Saturday that he will contest the race in Baghdad as part of the State of Law Coalition (SLC), a prominent political bloc led by former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. The coalition currently holds 33 out of 328 seats in Iraq's parliament. بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم(الإرادة لا تُهزم حين يقودها الإيمان بالوطن)من ميادين الشرف في مواجهة الإرها....ب، إلى ميادين الخدمة العامة والبناء المدني. أعلن رسمياً ترشّحي لانتخابات مجلس النواب عن قائمة دولة القانون، بالتسلسل (٣٣) بغداد . — يحيى رسول | Yehia Rasool (@IraqiSpoxMOD) June 28, 2025
