South Africans are bracing for the economic blow in the wake of the United States’ official tariffs to hit in August, due to poor diplomatic dynamics while President Cyril Ramaphosa’s ‘special envoy’ to restore relations is said to have derailed.
While Ramaphosa ensured that good progress is being made in efforts to restore diplomatic relations with Washington, his pick Mcebisi Jonas, to replace former diplomat Ebrahim Rasool, was denied diplomatic access to the US.
‘DA disinformation’
The Presidency, however, cautioned against “treating Democratic Alliance (DA) disinformation on matters of international relations and diplomacy as official Government policy”. This was dubbed an attempt by the DA to “embarrass” Jonas and “sensationalising” its claim, implying that they face a crisis due to the impeding trade doom.
This, in response to DA Member of Parliament (MP) Emma Powell’s statement on Tuesday 15 July, revealing that Ramaphosa “has, for months, been fully aware that his ‘special envoy’ is not welcome in Washington DC”.
“Despite these clear and repeated communications, the Presidency continued to mislead the public by insisting that Jonas remained the President’s special envoy to North America, responsible for leading the charge in repairing bilateral relations between our two countries,” she stated.
Powell referred to a televised SABC interview in June this year, in which Ramaphosa doubled down on national television, declaring: “Mcebisi Jonas is still my North American envoy {} and has done good work”.
PAIA request submitted
This week, when faced with an announcement that the DA would submit a Promotion of Access to Information (PAIA) request detailing Jonas’ official engagements over the past 90 days, Presidential spokesperson Vincent Magwenya took to social media, accusing the DA of “encroaching” on the President’s powers.
The DA is encroaching on the President’s area of responsibility. They have no business in the appointment or work of envoys, including that of Mr Jonas. Envoys are there to support the work of the President. https://t.co/UDKqrr0pWj
— Vincent Magwenya 🇿🇦 (@SpokespersonRSA) July 14, 2025
While envoys are not required to account publicly for the work they undertake, Magwenya wrote, the President’s own accounts of his performance include elements facilitated by envoys.
“Jonas’ outreach does not in any way supersede the leading role played by the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC) and the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) in our difficult but constructive trade negotiations with the US, or in our diplomatic relations with this longstanding partner.”
Jonas is said, however, to have played an important role in working with the DTIC to develop the trade proposals in which South Africa is currently engaging the US in good faith and with the expectation of mutually beneficial terms.
Doubling down on bad diplomats
Truth Report contributor Kuhle Masego reacted to this rift, recalling Jonas’ past remarks, calling President Donald Trump a “narcissistic right-winger”. These remarks are similar to the ones made by his predecessor Rasool that was sacked in March this year, for saying this during his webinar with the Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Reflection:
“The supremacist assault on incumbency, we see it in the domestic politics of the U.S.A., the MAGA movement, the Make America Great Again movement, as a response not simply to a supremacist instinct, but to very clear data that shows great demographic shifts in the U.S.A. in which the voting electorate in the U.S.A. is projected to become 48 % white,” said Rasool. [apnews.com]
Masego’s take on this situation is that Ramaphosa’s pick to fulfil the diplomatic charge was not wise at all. “While 30% tariffs threatens South Africa’s exports and thousands of jobs “President Ramaphosa thought it was a wise decision in his infinite wisdom to send Mcebisi Jonas to the US – a guy who insulted the US President… “
Masego slams Ramaphosa for doubling down, instead of apologising and appointing another diplomat able to smooth over South Africa’s rocky relationship with one of its biggest trade partners.
