MVEBISI Jonas’s previous comments that US president Donald Trump was “a racist, homophobic and a narcissistic right-winger” blocked his inclusion from the South African delegation that visited the White House’s Oval Office on Wednesday.
Jonas became South Africa’s presidential envoy to US but he had to catch the action from the sidelines on the say so of US government officials.
THE South African Presidency has reportedly confirmed that Mcebisi Jonas, who was appointed as Special Envoy to the United States, was not part of the meeting between President Cyril Ramaphosa and former US President Donald Trump due to concerns raised by Trump’s administration.
“Presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya confirmed to me while I was speaking to @JohnPerlman on @Radio702 that part of the reason Mcebisi Jonas (presidential envoy to US) is not here because the Trump administration raised some “displeasure” about him,” EWN journalist Clement Manyathela wrote on his X platform.
According to Manyathela, Mangwenya said the president may had to consider other options should the issues not be resolved around Jonas.
Magwenya also indicated that the president may have to consider alternative envoys if the matter was not resolved, Manyathela said
Jonas, who previously served as deputy finance minister, had come under scrutiny for remarks made in 2020, in which he referred to Trump as “a racist, homophobic and a narcissistic right-winger.”
The comments resurfaced shortly after Ramaphosa announced Jonas’s appointment last month.
News previously reported that Jonas addressed the controversy, saying his comments were made while he was outside of government and speaking in the capacity of an activist.
“People move on and confront challenges of the time,” Jonas said.
“The reality of the matter is that the task at hand is to work on the relations between the two countries.”
Ramaphosa was scheduled to meet with Trump in the Oval Office yesterday.
This as Pretoria sought to reset strained relations with Washington, a major trading partner and investor in South Africa.
Relations between the two countries deteriorated in recent years, especially during Trump’s second term.
Tensions escalated after Trump criticised South Africa’s land reform policy, claiming it allowed for the seizure of land from white Afrikaner farmers, a claim the South African government has rejected.
Further damage to the relationship came in February, when the US cut HIV and AIDS funding to South Africa.
More recently, Washington granted refugee status to 49 white South Africans, citing racial discrimination, another assertion strongly denied by Pretoria.
Ramaphosa appointed Jonas in April as the official envoy to the US, tasking him with advancing South Africa’s diplomatic, trade and bilateral priorities.
Jonas was expected to lead negotiations and engage with US government officials and private-sector leaders.
Jonas previously served as one of four Presidential Investment Envoys appointed by Ramaphosa in 2018 to attract foreign investment into South Africa.
Former South African Ambassador to the US Ebrahim Rasool returned to Cape Town after being expelled from Washington.
Rasool was declared “persona non grata” by the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio following comments he made during a webinar criticising the Trump administration.
Politics
