Mcebisi Jonas, a former deputy finance minister, was appointed Monday by President Cyril Ramaphosa as his representative to Washington, tasked with rebuilding South Africa's deteriorating relationship with the U.S. under Trump.
The Jonas appointment comes after the Trump administration expelled the South African ambassador last month.
Trump has singled out South Africa, issuing an executive order in February suspending all U.S. funding to the country over what he says are its anti-white and anti-American policies.
The new South African envoy's speech criticizing Trump and his first term was delivered on Nov. 8, 2020, five days after the election where Joe Biden defeated Trump.
“Right now, the U.S. is undergoing a watershed moment, with Biden the certain winner in the presidential race against the racist, homophobic Donald Trump,” Jonas said. “How we got to a situation where a narcissistic right-winger took charge of the world's greatest economic and military powerhouse is something that we need to ponder over. It is something that all democracies need to ponder over.”
Trump has accused the South African government of allowing violent attacks on white minority farmers and seizing their land.
He has announced a program offering white South African farmers refugee status in the U.S.
