'It's Bozell, not America': Calls grow in Pretoria to replace US ambassador to South Africa as relationship sinks - IOL
The ANC, EFF and a parliamentary committee have criticised US Ambassador Leo Bozell’s public comments, with calls growing for the government to consider declaring him persona non grata.
As South Africa's relationship with the United States hits its lowest point since 1994, a growing chorus in Pretoria is making a pointed distinction: the problem is not America, it's Ambassador Leo Brent Bozell III.
The argument, now openly voiced by diplomats, analysts and politicians, is that Bozell — toxic, impolite and openly contemptuous in his public style — has made himself incapable of doing the core job of an ambassador: building a relationship.
And that, his critics say, is why he should be replaced, not because South Africa wants to break with Washington.
International relations expert Kingsley Makhubela told the SABC that Bozell is failing in his mission to rebuild relations.
"The basic function of an ambassador is to build relations between the two countries. So based on that, you can see that he's failing. And for anyone to say that these demarches are a usual procedural issue in the function of diplomatic missions, they are misleading the nation," Makhubela said.
Makhubela's assessment follows an unprecedented run of diplomatic rebukes. South Africa's Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) has summoned Bozell for a third formal démarche in nine months — a record for a US envoy in Pretoria.DIRCO accused him of "undiplomatic conduct", while Parliament's Portfolio Committee on International Relations noted that the United States "remains an important trade, investment and historical partner for South Africa" and that "constructive engagement requires mutual respect".
The breaking point came after Bozell published an op-ed declaring diplomacy "useless" and saying Washington had "run out of patience" with Pretoria.
"I was taken aback. You can't have a diplomat who says time for talking is over. It's our job to talk. So, if you can't talk as a diplomat and you cannot dialogue… get out of the kitchen," International Relations Minister Ronald Lamola told the Newsnote.
Lamola added: "Yes, he has been involved in very undiplomatic conduct. As a diplomat, you cannot interfere in the domestic politics of your host."
Bozell responded on X, accusing Lamola of a personal insult: "So here we go again. Another Minister Lamola personal insult aimed at an American leader (this time me) which, when denounced, will result in a demarche with a lecture about being 'undiplomatic.'"He later dismissed the three démarches as "kabuki theatre."
He has also said: "I am sorry, I don't care what your courts say, it's hate speech" — referring to a South African court ruling that the struggle song is not hate speech.
Critics say that tone — lecturing, dismissing courts, and conducting policy via op-eds and Fox News — is the opposite of diplomacy.
The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) has gone furthest, calling for Bozell to be expelled and declared persona non grata.
The party said Bozell has expressed contempt for the country, the President, the legislature and the judiciary, and has "taken it upon himself" to dictate South Africa's domestic and foreign policy.
"Perhaps most disrespectfully as a diplomat, Bozell stated that he does not care what our courts say about the struggle song Kill The Boer, Kill The Farmer, and that our government must condemn what our courts correctly characterised as free speech," the EFF said.
What is striking about the current debate is what it is not: a call to cut ties with the United States.
Even Bozell himself acknowledges the depth of the relationship, pointing to more than 500 US companies operating in South Africa — Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Visa — and billions in potential investment in mining and telecommunications.South African officials make the same point. The dispute, they argue, is with an envoy who treats Pretoria as an ideological opponent to be coerced, not a partner to be negotiated with.
Bozell, a veteran conservative activist with no prior foreign service experience and who had never lived in Africa before his appointment, was confirmed 53-43 on a party-line Senate vote in December 2025. Analyst Ofentse Donald Davhie warned at the time: "He is here to extract concessions, he is not here to make any new friends."
For many in Pretoria, that prediction has now come true.
The message emerging from DIRCO, from Parliament and from analysts is consistent: South Africa still wants a working partnership with Washington — on trade, investment, security and AGOA. It just cannot build one with an ambassador who has declared dialogue useless.
As one senior diplomat put it privately this week: "Replace Bozell, and the relationship can be repaired. Keep Bozell, and it will keep collapsing — not because America and South Africa cannot agree, but because he cannot talk."
