The South African government has called in the US ambassador to “explain his undiplomatic conduct” for the third time since he arrived nine months ago, a foreign ministry official said Wednesday.
Conservative envoy Brent Bozell took up his post in February with bilateral ties fractured over a range of issues, from South Africa’s genocide case against US ally Israel to President Donald Trump’s disputed claims that white Afrikaners are being persecuted.
Bozell was summoned to the foreign ministry on Tuesday, the day he published a blistering opinion piece accusing the government of “hostility” and after a series of critical interviews with local media.
“He was called in to explain his undiplomatic conduct,” a senior foreign ministry official told AFP, without saying what prompted the reprimand.
“It was the third demarche since he started his duties nine months ago. This is a record,” the official said.
The two countries have clashed over a range of policies including South African efforts to redress stark inequalities that black people still face 30 years after the end of white-minority rule.
They include laws on black empowerment in business and the use and ownership of land, which largely remains in white hands.
Washington in mid-September announced restrictions on visas for South Africans who promote “race-based discrimination, incite violence, or enable land confiscation without compensation in South Africa” — all issues that are disputed between the two countries.
