South Africa’s new US envoy brushes off past criticism of ‘racist’ Donald Trump

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South Africa’s new special envoy to the US said that past comments in which he called President Donald Trump “racist” and “narcissistic” would not prevent him improving the soured relationship between the two countries, but warned there would be “no quick fixes”.

Mcebisi Jonas, a former deputy finance minister and businessman who became a whistleblower against government corruption, told the Financial Times he had been appointed to “reset” ties after the White House cut aid to South Africa and expelled its previous ambassador.

His goal was to mend relations “both at the economic and trade level, as well as working to realign the two countries in a more substantive way”, Jonas said in his first interview with international media.

Despite a strong trade relationship, with 600 US companies still based in South Africa, Jonas said the task would require “time and space”. “There are no quick fixes in such a complex situation,” he added, referring to the dramatic deterioration in relations since Trump became US president. 

Last month, secretary of state Marco Rubio expelled South Africa’s ambassador, Ebrahim Rasool, for saying Trump was launching a “supremacist assault on incumbency” during a webinar.

Shortly after his appointment this week, past comments resurfaced in which Jonas referred to the “racist homophobe Donald Trump” during a lecture at the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation in November 2020.

“How we got to a situation where a narcissistic rightwinger took charge of the world’s greatest economic and military powerhouse is something that we need to ponder over,” Jonas said in the lecture, which took place days after Joe Biden’s electoral victory over Trump.

Jonas, who is chair of Africa’s largest mobile phone group MTN, told the FT he did not believe that what he said years ago when he was not in government would be an obstacle.

“People are mature enough to understand that the context has changed,” he said. “We have passed that point, I think, where this would be a problem.”

Even close associates of Trump have in the past strongly criticised him. Any incoming diplomats will also have to navigate the wider reshaping of multilateralism as the US embarks on a trade war with China, one of South Africa’s closest allies and a central member of the Brics trade bloc.

Although the position of an envoy, unlike ambassador, carries no official status or credentials, South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa said this week Jonas would play a “diplomatic role” negotiating with US officials. This would include on trade, where South African exports like citrus and vehicle parts had until Trump’s tariffs enjoyed duty-free access.

Jonas said the government was considering a package to offer the US to try and address Trump’s trade and foreign policy concerns, but details had not yet been agreed.

Jonas’ appointment has already raised hackles in rightwing circles in the US. Breitbart News, which was cited by Rubio in his decision to eject Rasool, said an envoy who insulted Trump “does not seem like a good choice for rebuilding a ‘special relationship’ with the US”.

Trump in February ended aid to the country over South Africa’s case accusing Israel of crimes against humanity in Gaza at the International Court of Justice, as well as a new land expropriation policy.

Trump and his South African-born adviser Elon Musk have falsely claimed white farmers are being subjected to “genocide”, and offered to take in Afrikaner farmers as refugees.

Last week, Trump said he planned to skip the G20 summit in Johannesburg in November because the government was “taking the land of white farmers and then killing them and their families”.

In 2016, Jonas was fired by then-president Jacob Zuma after refusing to accept a R600mn ($31.7mn) bribe by the influential Gupta family, who were friends of Zuma.

Songezo Zibi, an MP and leader of Rise, a party in the governing coalition, said Jonas had “an understanding of how to lobby in the US. He’s not someone who is going to lose his temper.”

Zibi said Jonas’ role at MTN was also that of a diplomat, given its pan-African presence. “He is used to dealing with presidents and foreign ministers in extremely difficult jurisdictions, as well as western capitals,” Zibi added.

John Steenhuisen, the leader of the second-largest party Democratic Alliance, said he hoped “a suitable ambassador would soon be appointed to deal with moving the relationship on to steadier and more constructive ground”.

“Envoys are the prerogative of the president, however given the fact that the relationship with the USA is in a perilous position, we need to be extremely pragmatic about who to send to Washington,” he said.