Mcebisi Jonas excluded from Trump talks with Ramaphosa after previously calling Trump ‘racist’

The South African Presidency has reportedly confirmed that Mcebisi Jonas, who was appointed as Special Envoy to the United States, will not be part of the upcoming meeting between President Cyril Ramaphosa and former US President Donald Trump due to concerns raised by Trump’s administration.

“Presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya confirms to me while I was speaking to @JohnPerlman on @Radio702 that part of the reason Mcebisi Jonas (presidential envoy to US) is not here is because the Trump administration raised some “displeasure” about him,” EWN’s Clement Manyathela wrote on his X.

According to him, Mangwenya said the president may have to consider other options should the issues not be resolved around Jonas. 

Magwenya also indicated that the president may have to consider alternative envoys if the matter is not resolved, Manyathela said

Jonas, who previously served as deputy finance minister, has come under scrutiny for remarks made in 2020, in which he referred to Trump as "a racist, homophobic and a narcissistic right-winger." 

The comments resurfaced shortly after Ramaphosa announced Jonas’s appointment last month.

IOL News previously reported that Jonas addressed the controversy, saying his comments were made while he was outside of government and speaking in the capacity of an activist. 

“People move on and confront challenges of the time,” Jonas said. 

“The reality of the matter is that the task at hand is to work on the relations between the two countries.”

Ramaphosa is scheduled to meet with Trump in the Oval Office on Wednesday at 12:45 p.m. EDT (6:45 p.m. SAST).

This as Pretoria seeks to reset strained relations with Washington, a major trading partner and investor in South Africa.

Relations between the two countries have deteriorated in recent years, especially during Trump’s second term. 

Tensions escalated after Trump criticised South Africa’s land reform policy, claiming it allowed for the seizure of land from white Afrikaner farmers, a claim the South African government has rejected.

Further damage to the relationship came in February, when the US cut HIV and AIDS funding to South Africa. 

More recently, Washington granted refugee status to 49 white South Africans, citing racial discrimination, another assertion strongly denied by Pretoria.

Ramaphosa appointed Jonas in April as the official envoy to the US, tasking him with advancing South Africa’s diplomatic, trade and bilateral priorities. 

Jonas was expected to lead negotiations and engage with US government officials and private-sector leaders.

Jonas previously served as one of four Presidential Investment Envoys appointed by Ramaphosa in 2018 to attract foreign investment into South Africa.

Meanwhile, former South African Ambassador to the US Ebrahim Rasool has returned to Cape Town after being expelled from Washington. 

Rasool was declared “persona non grata” by the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio following comments he made during a webinar criticising the Trump administration. 

The US government gave Rasool a week to leave the country.

IOL Politics