In a rare move, the Trump administration expelled South Africa’s Washington ambassador Ebrahim Lasor in mid-March 2025. In a post on X, Secretary of State Marco Rubio accused LaSaul of disliked the US and President Donald Trump, and the ambassador said “we are no longer welcome in our great powers.” The expulsion came after comments made by Rasool at a webinar hosted by the Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Studies Instant, a South African think tank. LaSaul said he thought Trump was “mobilizing supremacy” and that he thought that as the white population became a minority in the United States, he was “trying to project the white victims as dog whispers.”
Relations between the two countries reached a new low in the first few weeks of the Trump administration. Trump assaulted Israel in South Africa for taking him to the International Court of Justice over accusations of Gaza’s genocide. Freeze all funds to South Africa. It provided asylum to white Africans from South Africa, promoting far-right groups in the country. Peter Vere, considered an authority in the South African world, answers questions about the ouster of the ambassador.
What was your initial reaction to Rasool’s booking?
I know and admire Ebrahim Lasol – we worked together at the University of the Western Cape 30 years ago – and I thought he did an incredible job as an ambassador for the United States during his time at Obama.
Don’t forget that his appointment under the Trump administration was announced a week after the November poll. This would have been a few months to prepare. So one question is, did the South African government think Joe Biden would win? If so, they didn’t follow the vote that closely. South Africa’s relationship with the US under Biden was sometimes testy but manageable, and Rasool was well versed in the person responsible for their creation.
More importantly, both Rasool and the Bureau of International Relations and Cooperation seemed to ignore the warnings of the ancient Greek philosopher Heracritus.
Do not step into the same river twice. Because it’s not the same river, and he’s not the same man.
American politics has changed at a rate of paradigms since Obama.
Then there was the fact that Lasor’s politics were rooted in the sharpest edge of the African National Congress: the front faction of the United Democrats. Speaking clearly in the language of the country’s streets was a gift that the unified Democratic front gave to national politics. It was the most important internal anti-apartheid movement in the 1980s, bringing together youth, students and civic organizations.
Nevertheless, this is the language of the mind (which we might call it) is being dug up by the rise of techno speaking in the 2020s – a language made up of buzzwords, esoteric languages, or technical jargon, and becomes a kind of diplomacy language: a diplomatic language that carefully uses points of language that are non-contradictory to euphemism. Compensation for racial justice, gender equality and colonialism mutes both South Africa’s domestic politics and the country’s foreign policy, as it appears to have no place in everyday political discourse.
What happened at the Mapungubwe seminar?
Fracas was born during a virtual seminar hosted by a major South African think tank that discussed deep tensions in the relationship between Pretoria and Washington.
The late South African politician Frederick van Jill Slavvad, who glittered with words, was used to distinguish it from plot and cock-up. However, it can be a combination of both.
I think Rasool was confused by the audience he spoke to – was it local or was it a foreigner local?
If there was a cheating session at the meeting itself, this was not Lasol’s account. Instead, it points to a journalist who aims to stumble over any position South Africa has taken on issues that appear to advance his career. This is said to be Joel Pollack, a journalist at Breitbart. Joel Pollack kept his desire to be the US ambassador for South Africa without a secret. He was registered as “anonymous” in a webinar call. He did not reveal his name or occupation when he asked Lasol questions.
In my opinion, disclosure is a professional responsibility.
Interestingly, there is no indication that the meeting was operated under the famous Chatham House Rules.
Participants are free to use the information they receive, but they cannot disclose the speaker’s identity, partnership, or other participants.
Although not without critics, this rule links participants to nondisclosure by creating a safe space for open and honest discussion.
Where does the ambassador’s responsibility lie?
The consensus between observers and commentators who emerged for exile is that it is Lasor’s responsibility to hold his tongue – a kind of golden rule of diplomacy.
There is another way of thinking about this.
The professional responsibility of a diplomatic representative should often follow a higher standard than that set by the incumbent government.
This choice faced the country’s diplomats during apartheid. For example, in 1986, the apartheid government expelled the Swedish ambassador after the country’s strong opposition to apartheid. Other expulsions were also made. These moves have been part of wider international pressures surrounding apartheid, with diplomats shifting responsibility from a small number of incumbent governments to the people of the country.
But most well-known is that this understanding manifested in the writing of the American pamphlet, Thomas Payne. Benjamin Franklin (at the time ambassador from the United States to Paris) said, “Not a court diplomat, the ambassador (the ambassador) represented human beings (kindness).
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This intervention is seen as the first recognition that humans enjoyed currency in international relations, in contrast to states.
The turbulent times we live in have further disrupted this water.
What do you think of Rasool’s reaction to explosion?
Voice dissonance both domestically and nationally discusses the pros and cons of American decisions.
Many things were predictable in the content and sources. Some garbled characters. Former South African president, Tabo Mbeki, was the principal during the lecture that followed the expulsion of Rathor, but he reminded the country of the incredible power the ambassador had in his hands.
For those with ethical interests in international relations, the concern was that “national interest” appeared again and again and again, and the form it took on was economic. Therefore, it is the national interest of South Africa to “raising the economy”, “creating jobs”, and “fighting HIV” in American money.
Nevertheless, Le Affaire Rasool reminded South Africans that the country also has other “national interests” such as fighting climate change and defending human rights around the world.
Peter Vale, Senior Researcher, Center for Progress in the University of Pretoria Scholarships
