Mcebisi Jonas Says He Made Anti-trump Comments 'as An Activist'

President Cyril Ramaphosas special envoy to the United States US, Mcebisi Jonas, has explained critical comments he made about US President Donald Trump several years ago.

Jonas described Trump as a narcissistic and racist homophobe in his Ahmed Kathrada Annual Lecture in 2020.

The remarks have sparked concerns that they may complicate his new role of repairing frayed diplomatic relations between South Africa and the US.

In an interview with talk radio 702 on Tuesday 15 April, Jonas said he was outside of government when he made the comments.

At the time I was speaking as an activist. I mean, people move on and confront challenges of the time, he explained.

"I am sure if you Google any politician, they have said some nasty things about one politician or the other. The reality of the matter is that the challenge that we all face, and the task at hand is to work on the relations between the two countries.

Firstly, I am committed to doing that, but secondly I have the backing of government and South Africans in general.

The former Deputy Minister of Finance, who is now MTN Groups independent non-executive chairman, said Pretorias diplomatic challenges with Washington predate Trumps second term.

I think we mustnt make the mistake that most of the problems we have started suddenly with the Trump administration - whether theyre issues of trade or economic relations, or whether to overlay geopolitical issues, he said.

My task is to understand what ground has been covered and what hasnt, what the blockages are, and also to understand the thinking from the other side so that we can frame our responses appropriately and deal with the challenges.