'we Need To Engage Behind Closed Doors:' Lamola On Sa-us Tensions

International Relations and Cooperation Minister Ronald Lamola says South Africa and the US need to engage behind closed doors to ease diplomatic tensions.

The strained relations between the two countries worsened on Friday 14 March when US Secretary of State Marco Rubio declared that South Africas ambassador to Washington, Ebrahim Rasool , was no longer welcome in our great country.

He was responding to Rasools comments at a webinar that US President Donald Trump was launching a supremacist assault on incumbency.

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 said.

Speaking to SABC News on Saturday, Lamola said the incident is regrettable and unprecedented, because the normal first step is for the US to issue a demarche for Rasool to explain his comments.

It has happened. We now have to follow diplomatic protocols and processes to facilitate the smooth return of ambassador Rasool to South Africa and work on the transition in this matter, he added.

The minister revealed that Rasool was at an advanced stage of preparing for President Cyril Ramaphosas special envoys to Washington to reset relations.

We are now where we are. We have to work with what we have. We believe the relationship between the two countries is mutually beneficial, strategic and has to be maintained, Lamola said.

The issues we have with each other - we need to find time to engage with each other behind closed doors where they US can raise their concerns with us and we can also raise our concerns. It is not helpful to engage in megaphone and Twitter now X diplomacy.

Rasools expulsion comes just two months after he presented his credentials to the then outgoing President Joe Biden on 13 January. His short-lived stint was his second as Pretorias envoy in Washington.