South Africa's ambassador to the US still not appointed
Special envoy Mcebisi Jonas was not part of the South African delegation that met US President Donald Trump recently, but he remains a Special envoy to the US.
Image: FILE
South Africa is yet to appoint an ambassador to the United States.
Chrispin Phiri, spokesperson for International Relations and Cooperation Minister Ronald Lamola, confirmed that a new ambassador has not been appointed since the expulsion of Ebrahim Rassool in March.
Rassool was given 72 hours to leave the US after he was expelled by US secretary of state Marco Rubio for making comments during a webinar where he accused US President Donald Trump's administration of supremacism.
"The appointment of an ambassador is the president's prerogative. It is under consideration of the president at the moment.
"Mr Mcebisi Jonas remains as South Africa’s special envoy to the United States," said Phiri.
Phiri said the role of the special envoy is when a person is tasked to take a message from the president of their country to the president of another country.
"He has not yet gone to the US as a special envoy. Mr Jonas was intimately involved in the strategy planning leading up to the recent US visit. He however did not accompany the delegation as he was in the UK," said Phiri.
Special envoys are only appointed to fulfill certain diplomatic missions. Once the missions are accomplished, the special envoys must return to their original countries to report. However, for ambassadors, once appointed, he or she will establish a new residence in the country to which they are assigned.