The appointment of Ebrahim Rasool, SA’s former ambassador to the US, as Pretoria’s next ambassador to the US has to be commended. It signals that SA appreciates how high the stakes are in resetting the US-SA relations under a second Donald Trump presidency.
International relations & co-operation minister Ronald Lamola announced this week that Rasool, formerly the Western Cape premier, would be returning to Washington. He said Rasool’s nomination was informed by Pretoria’s desire to harness bipartisanship among US legislators.
After the November 5 elections, the Republicans have won a clear legislative mandate with Trump winning both the electoral and popular votes.
News of Rasool’s appointment has been widely welcomed with a sense of relief in diplomatic and business circles in SA. As chair of the Development Bank of Southern Africa, he is one of few ANC officials that have escaped the taint of both sleaze and factional ANC politics. The bar for Rasool, who is well loved in the US, is embarrassingly low. Yet his job will not be an easy one.
In the past decade, which includes Trump’s first term in office in 2016-20, SA’s foreign policy has largely overlooked the importance of relations with Western countries, particularly the US. Instead, both Jacob Zuma and his successor, Cyril Ramaphosa, focused on fostering relationships with the Global South through the Brics partnership.
When Russia illegally invaded Ukraine, SA was caught on Russia’s side despite its protestations to be nonaligned; a position it has battled to explain to its allies. Additionally, the mismanagement of the Lady R debacle, involving a sanctioned Russian ship, further strained diplomatic relations.
Both the Democrats and Republicans threatened to remove SA from the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa), a US trade law that grants duty-free and quota-free access to thousands of Africans exports to the US market. SA’s mineral and car makers have been major beneficiaries under the unilateral law.
Worse, when the row erupted, SA’s ambassador was mostly at home than in her post. It took serious back-channel lobbying by business and Ebrahim Patel, the former trade, industry & competition minister, to save SA’s participation in Agoa.
Rasool is a major hire by Ramaphosa, which suggests the president understands the scale of the challenge that comes with a Trump world view.
With a clear mandate, Trump sees the next four years as an opportunity to implement his America First foreign policy doctrine. He sees the world in transactional terms: if it doesn’t benefit the US, it’s not worth his time and US taxpayers’ money. Also, Trump unashamedly despises multilateralism such as the UN, World Health Organisation and Nato. He prefers bilateral relations.
Therefore, Rasool would be well advised to adopt a language that resonates with Trump’s White House. Put differently, for example, Trump will not understand why he has to deal with structures such as the African Continental Free Trade Area instead of SA directly.
Rasool’s biggest test will come next month when SA assumes the chair of the G20. Among others things, he will have to shepherd Trump’s first visit to Africa for that summit. But, before then, there will be so much to do to reset bilateral relations.
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