Analyst says US ambassador‑nominee Brent Bozell III is setting himself up to fail after comments, which included challenging South Africa’s ties with US rivals, opposing land expropriation without compensation, urge it to drop its Israel case if elected to the role.
Bozell said he will challenge SA to support Donald Trump’s proposal to offer refuge to white South Africans claiming racial discrimination.
However, the The Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) said it would not comment on remarks made by Bozell.
“His comments and views are before the US Senate committee on foreign affairs to consider. We will not opine on the US’s domestic processes,” DIRCO spokesperson Chrispin Phiri told News on Friday.
Independent political analyst Goodenough Mashego said Bozell’s statements appeared intended to set himself up for failure.
“So I think his utterances were just a way of setting himself up to fail, because there’s no way you can do that,” Mashego said.
“You can’t go to a country and do that. Ebrahim Rasool (former SA ambassador to US) was expelled from the United States for raising an opinion about a US leader. Now imagine if our ambassador was expelled for doing the same, and now the ambassador is coming here and saying he wants to change the government. That should apply both ways. What is done on the left must be done on the right.”
Mashego added that Bozell, along with figures such as Trump and Marco Rubio, may overestimate US influence.
“I don’t even think Bozell will finish his term as ambassador here in South Africa.”
”He’s going to get frustrated because he’s saying he will push Donald Trump’s agenda on African resettlement. It’s easier to speak from a distance, when you get close to the fire, you burn.”
Bozell has warned that Washington sees Pretoria drifting into China’s orbit and has pledged to confront what he described as South Africa’s “geostrategic drift” towards US global competitors.
Appearing before the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee this week, Bozell said that, if confirmed, he would “communicate our objections to South Africa’s geostrategic drift from non‑alignment toward our competitors, including Russia, China and Iran.”
He emphasised respect for the South African people, noting that South Africa is the US’s largest trading partner on the African continent and hosts over 500 US businesses employing more than 250,000 South Africans.
He also highlighted the safety of nearly 400,000 American visitors annually and the work of US diplomats.
“When people and businesses in South Africa believe their private property rights are at risk, when rampant corruption and unfair business practices hold back the economy, and when South African politicians greet as friends those who seek to destabilise world peace and security, then common ground between our two countries feels harder to find,” Bozell said.
A conservative media executive and political activist, Bozell said he would advocate for US business interests and promote “fair trade practices” in South Africa.
Analysts interpreted his pledge to “level the playing field for US companies” as a reference to the prominent role of Chinese firms in South Africa’s infrastructure, energy and technology sectors.
Bozell also criticised South Africa’s case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), where Pretoria accuses Israel of committing genocide in Gaza.
He told senators one of his first tasks would be to urge South Africa to withdraw the case and pressure the International Criminal Court prosecutor to discontinue what he called “lawfare.”
South Africa has defended the case as rooted in international law and consistent with its historic advocacy for human rights. Pretoria maintains that its position is not “anti‑Israel” but opposes “atrocities committed against civilians in Gaza.”
