The US is running out of patience with the South African government, which has not addressed five demands the superpower made to smooth relations between the two countries.
The non-response, about a year after the demands were made, was becoming “a statement”, according to new US ambassador to South Africa Leo Brent Bozell III, who addressed the BizNews Conference in Hermanus on Tuesday.
He also decried as not helpful “insults” by President Cyril Ramaphosa in an interview with the New York Times last week in which Ramaphosa was quoted as saying US President Donald Trump’s refugee policy favouring white Afrikaners is “racist”.
“Insulting our president on the eve of coming to our country is not a good sign. Sending condolence letters to Iran after one of the world’s greatest terrorists has been put down, it’s not a good sign,” he said in reference to South Africa’s message of condolence after Iranian leader Ali Khamenei was killed in US-Israeli strikes.
TimesLIVE
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