Pretoria has appointed veteran diplomat Thabo Thage as minister plenipotentiary at its Washington embassy, paving the way for the country to finalise the selection of a permanent ambassador to the US.
The move was confirmed by sources within the department of international relations & co-operation who are familiar with the matter.
Thage, who was appointed earlier in March, holds one of diplomacy’s most senior designations, which grants full authority to negotiate and sign treaties on behalf of the South African government.
He will serve as deputy head of mission, in effect the second in command at the embassy, as the position is set to become vacant soon.
The appointment comes at a critical juncture as South Africa seeks to reset its relationship with the Trump administration, which has adopted an increasingly hostile posture toward Pretoria.
This includes opposition to South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice and the widely discredited notion of a white genocide targeting the country’s Afrikaner minority, a claim that has nonetheless gained traction in Trump administration circles.
South Africa has been without an ambassador in Washington since early 2025, when then envoy Ebrahim Rasool was expelled after publicly criticising Trump. It is this vacancy that Thage’s appointment is now intended to begin addressing at the deputy level while the search for a permanent ambassador continues.
Great to be back in Johannesburg, a hub of entrepreneurship, innovation, and culture. 🇺🇸🇿🇦
— U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of South Africa (@USAmbRSA) March 27, 2026
The U.S. Mission team gathered leaders from business, academia, media, political, and creative sectors who contribute to this dynamic city and are investing in a more prosperous… pic.twitter.com/AryZ1IqF1A
Meanwhile, Business Day understands that US ambassador to South Africa Leo Brent Bozell III is scheduled to formally present his credentials to President Cyril Ramaphosa in a group ceremony alongside other envoys in April.
The credentials ceremony will mark the formal completion of Bozell’s assumption of duties, a process that has unfolded in stages. He had earlier handed copies of his credentials to the department of international relations & co-operation in February.
Bozell is not a career diplomat. A conservative media critic and founder of the Media Research Centre, he was nominated by Trump and confirmed by the US Senate in December 2025.
Additional reporting by Hajra Omarjee
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