SA summons US ambassador amid escalating Trump tensions

South Africa has summoned US Ambassador Leo Brent Bozell III following his public criticism of Pretoria and mounting pressure from US President Donald Trump’s administration.

The Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) called Bozell in on Tuesday, 29 September, to discuss relations between the two countries.

The diplomatic rebuke followed a series of public statements in which Bozell criticised the South African government’s response to five demands from Washington.

Bozell also laid out the Trump administration’s position in an op-ed titled “The Cost of Doing Nothing”, published earlier this week.

In it, he said Washington had “run out of patience” and accused President Cyril Ramaphosa’s government of failing to meaningfully address three outstanding demands.

Why did SA summon the US ambassador?

The latest diplomatic clash follows five demands Washington has put to the South African government.

Bozell said the US initially asked South Africa not to interfere with its programme offering refugee status to Afrikaners. It also raised concerns over uncompensated land expropriation.

He said Washington regarded those two matters as largely addressed.

However, three demands remain at the centre of the dispute.

The Trump administration wants Ramaphosa and other senior government officials to condemn the “Kill the Boer” chant. It also wants South Africa to prioritise rural crime and expand alternatives to B-BBEE ownership requirements in sectors including telecommunications and mining.

Pretoria disputes Washington’s assessment of its response.

Ramaphosa’s international policy adviser, Alistair Ruiters, previously said South Africa had engaged extensively with the US and was working to address the outstanding issues.

US says it has ‘run out of patience’

Bozell said he travelled to Washington last month and met Trump and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

He said he returned to South Africa with a message for Ramaphosa that Washington wanted answers to its outstanding demands by a specified deadline.

Ramaphosa subsequently sent Trump a written response.

Bozell claimed the response failed to meaningfully address the three outstanding issues and said the US government was “shocked”.

Rubio had announced new visa restrictions on 15 September targeting unnamed South Africans whom Washington says are responsible for or complicit in policies involving land expropriation, racial discrimination or incitement against minority groups.

Bozell described the restrictions as Washington’s “first response” and warned they might not be its last.

US doubles down after Bozell summoned

Washington did not back down after DIRCO summoned Bozell.

A US government official confirmed the meeting and said DIRCO had called the ambassador in to discuss the bilateral relationship.

The official said Washington was not interested in “diplomatic manoeuvring, procedural delays, or dialogue for dialogue’s sake”.

“The ball is now squarely in the Government of South Africa’s court to outline the relationship it wants with the United States and respond accordingly to President Trump’s executive order,” the official said.

The latest démarche comes months after DIRCO also summoned Bozell in March over comments he made about South African court rulings on the “Kill the Boer” chant.

Relations between Pretoria and Washington have remained strained over land policy, transformation measures, rural crime and South Africa’s foreign policy.