No Longer Recognised: Us Gives Ebrahim Rasool Formal Deadline To Leave
The US State Department has given South Africas ambassador, Ebrahim Rasool, a formal deadline of Friday, 21 March to leave the country.
In a diplomatic note to South Africas embassy in Washington dated 14 March, the Department also said it will no longer recognise Rasool as a diplomat as from Monday, 17 March.
This follows Rasools comments at a webinar on Friday that US President Donald Trump was launching a supremacist assault on incumbency.
Reacting to the comments, Secretary of State Marco Rubio posted on X that Rasool was no longer welcome in our great country.
Ebrahim Rasool is a race-baiting politician who hates America and hates Trump. We have nothing to discuss with him and so he is considered persona non grata , Rubio announced.
US issues formal notification expelling Ebrahim Raso- b
SABC News journalist Sherwin Bryce-Pease shared a portion of the State Departments note to the embassy on X on Saturday.
The Department of State, in accordance with Article 9 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, wishes to inform the Embassy of the Republic of South Africa that Ambassador Ebrahim Rasool is declared persona non grata, the note states.
The Department of State will no longer recognise Ambassador Rasool as a member of the mission as of Monday, March 17, at which point his privileges and immunities will cease.
He and his dependent are required to depart the United States no later than March 21. Further, Ambassador Rasool is considered unacceptable for future accreditation as a member of the South African mission to the United States.
Ambassador Rasools recent comments regarding the President of the United States were deeply offensive and make it impossible for the United States Government to continue engaging with the Ambassador.