Mbeki Says Hes Not Surprised By Ibrahim Rasools Dismissal From Us

Former President Thabo Mbeki says he was not surprised when former ambassador to the United States of America, Ebrahim Rasool, was expelled by Donald Trump's administration.

He says Rasool was not supposed to talk negatively about the host country. He further stresses that the role of the ambassador is to represent the country and assist in addressing the differences between the countries involved, and strengthen relations.

Mbeki was addressing students at Unisa on Friday, discussing a range of global issues in Pretoria.

He says the host country can also reject an ambassador nominated by their country.

"The matter of ensuring that there are good relations is critically important as an ambassador. You are allowed what is a policy position. You cant go around expressing negative opinions about your host. Ebrahim Rasool is an old friend of mine and a comrade but in this instance, he made a mistake. He said things about his host president. When I saw this I was not surprised because practically you make an assessment of your host president.