US Ambassador to SA Leo Brent Bozell III has, within the wink of an eye, read the riot act to South Africa, barely weeks after his credentials were accepted by the Presidency.
Image: Kris Connor / Getty Images North America / AFP
SOUTH Africa’s fate appears to be like water on the palm of the US administration. A cursory desktop search has a plethora of examples that show the utterly lopsided bilateral ties between Pretoria and Washington.
It need not be like this. Diplomatic relations between two nations are premised on fundamental bases such as mutual respect, cooperation and a particular decorum oftentimes taught to budding career diplomats.
Not long ago, the former US envoy to South Africa, Amb Reuben E Brigety, was such a remorseless law unto himself that the extent to which he undermined our country’s authority bordered on treason.
But then, he always got away with it — guaranteed! Even when he made those spurious claims about South Africa selling arms to Russia for use in Ukraine, this was in contravention of the US-led Western sanctions against Russia — South Africa’s first reaction was a pathetic plea for innocence and a swift presidential announcement of a commission of inquiry to probe the matter.
Mark, Brigety had done what no foreign diplomat ever does: Calling a press conference to make a barrage of unfounded allegations against a host nation without following established protocols.
At the very start, Pretoria failed to lambaste Brigety’s errant and treacherous behavioural pattern that sought to bring only trouble upon a hugely hospitable host country. I have always wondered with disbelief at the sheepish handling of Brigety by the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco).
I mean, judging by his intentional behaviour, Brigety was a self-righteous envoy who dared his hosts at every opportunity, oftentimes displaying a shocking sense of self-importance.
When President Cyril Ramaphosa’s unnecessary Commission of Inquiry into Lady R — as the alleged weapons sales got to be known — completed its probe, it revealed no iota of evidence to back Brigety’s preposterous claims.
Any consequences? Capital En-O, NO! There was none whatsoever. Soon afterwards, Brigety arrogantly packed his bags to depart; apologised for the mess he caused, and praised South Africa for being good hosts. Who can blame his parting shot? No one should. We were good to him, albeit foolishly.
Just for a minute, let’s swap the roles and imagine a South African ambassador to the US behaving as Brigety did on South African soil, lying with a straight face and vowing that he was putting his life on his statement. (false claims). Be assured, I offer a prize for guessing what the US would have done.
This is a dangerous US diplomatic culture that South Africa has allowed to take root — without the requisite push back. It is a precedent that has been set by a boxing referee look-alike in the form of Brigety. At the core of this abominable behaviour, Brigety unleashed a practice that deliberately seeks to undermine South Africa’s sovereignty.
Little wonder, therefore, that Brigety’s successor, one Leo Brent Bozell III, has hit the ground running in the same streak. Within the wink of an eye, he has read the riot act to South Africa barely weeks after his credentials were accepted by the Presidency.
Bozell came with a reputation of being a chief Israel defender. His posting to our capital has been widely seen as akin to the deployment of a bully on your doorstep, or big brother being assigned to babysit a naughty minor.
Addressing the BizNews conference in Hermanus in the Western Cape this week, Bozell tore into the South African government, laying down the gauntlet, and revealed that Washington had given Pretoria “five asks” a year ago, and to date, the expected response had not been forthcoming.
Even more interesting were the revelations of Bozell’s “asks”, which were listed, including the following:
BRICS, which is a rapidly rising geopolitical force worldwide, did not survive scrutiny. The US, according to Bozell, is weary of South Africa aligning with America’s adversaries, and wants this to come to an end.
The keyword that Bozell uses — “non-aligned” — is exactly the same as his predecessor Brigety invoked.
Washington’s strategy on South Africa is crystal clear: If you are not with us, you are against us. Paraphrased, it could be presented simply as: My enemy must be your enemy, and my friend — your friend.
The arrogance in Bozell’s tone is equally similar to that of Brigety. Remarking on the “Kill the Boer” slogan that the courts had ruled is not hate speech, Bozell was quoted as saying: “I’m sorry; I don’t care what your courts say. It’s hate speech.”
Bozell summed up his views with a stark warning to Pretoria, saying Washington’s patience with the Ramaphosa administration was wearing thin.
You see, Bozell is fresh in the post, and he is already comfortable rattling the net. He read South Africa the riot act in plain English without hesitation, and in a condescending manner. Typically, Dirco announced that they had called Bozell in to diplomatically raise with him the country’s reservation over his remarks.
Predictably, and at a blistering pace, Bozell tendered his apology over the remarks. But the reputational damage has been done, perhaps irreversibly, at least at the bilateral relations level.
Bozell’s start to life in South Africa is a terrible one. But his mission has been outlined. South Africa must reconsider its ICJ court case against Israel, which is about genocide charges against the Palestinian people.
At Dirco, someone still needs to hammer it home to Bozell: South African courts operate independent of the country’s body politic. For the next three years that Bozell will operate from Pretoria, it seems like we all need to buckle up — the ride is going to be rough.
The geopolitical weather forecast predicts a flurry of storms and bad weather throughout the next few years, which now looks and feels like eternity.
South Africa needs to engage with the US away from the public glare and use all diplomatic channels to drive the message home that we are not a banana republic. Globally, diplomatic protocols exist for a reason. If they are not worthy of the paper they are written, then heaven help us all.
In the wake of the Trump-led spectre of unilateralism, SA should be afraid, very afraid. From Washington with certain fury, the sum total of Bozell’s message is: “Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin.”
The Trump administration, with Israel in tow, has put Pretoria on a scale and found us wanting. The conclusion, therefore, is that our days are numbered, as far as Washington is concerned.
* Abbey Makoe is Founder and Editor-in-Chief: Global South Media Network (gsmn.co.za). Views expressed are wholly personal.
** The views expressed here do not reflect those of the Sunday Independent, Independent Media, or IOL.