The presidency has rejected the DA’s allegations that SA’s envoy to the US, Mcebisi Jonas, has been sidelined by the Trump administration, accusing the party of exploiting tensions between Pretoria and Washington for political gain.
Jonas, appointed by President Cyril Ramaphosa after the expulsion of former SA ambassador to the US Ebrahim Rasool, has been denied a diplomatic visa since May, according to DA MP Emma Powell.
“The US government has formally rejected Jonas’ credentials and has informed the presidency that he would not be recognised as SA’s official interlocutor.
“The Ramaphosa administration was explicitly advised on multiple occasions that Jonas was not acceptable to Washington and was urged to appoint an alternative envoy,” Powell said.
However, the presidency in a statement on Tuesday denied the allegations, saying the DA’s accusations misrepresent the nature of Jonas’ role and the structure of SA’s foreign engagement with the Trump administration.
“Special envoys do not present credentials in the manner that ambassadors do,” the presidency said. “Mr Jonas’ mandate has been to support trade and diplomatic initiatives, not to serve as a conventional envoy.”
Jonas, a former deputy finance minister and widely respected anticorruption advocate, was appointed to Washington amid one of the most difficult periods in recent SA and US relations.
His role, which includes lobbying for the restoration of trade preferences under the African Growth & Opportunity Act (Agoa) and rebuilding ties between the two countries, has been complicated by the White House’s imposition of a blanket 30% tariff on most SA exports, effective August 1.
The tariff move, widely interpreted in Pretoria as politically motivated retaliation for SA’s perceived racial discrimination against Afrikaner farmers and its legal action against Israel at the International Court of Justice, has caused alarm across the country’s business sector, particularly in export-reliant industries such as agriculture and automotive manufacturing.
The tension between Pretoria and Washington has been a pressure point for the government of national unity, which aims to maintain economic and diplomatic ties with its second-largest trading partner.
“Jonas’ outreach does not in any way supersede the leading role played by the department of trade, industry & competition and the department of international relations & co-operation in our difficult but constructive trade negotiations with the US,” the presidency said.
“The DA is trying cheaply but dangerously to exploit a critical engagement between SA and the US to protest President Ramaphosa’s removal of Andrew Whitfield as deputy minister of trade, industry & competition.”
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