SA hauls US ambassador Bozell over the coals for the third time

Pretoria has hauled US ambassador Leo Brent Bozell III over the coals again after he spent the past week publicly accusing the government of ignoring President Donald Trump's demands on land, race policy and farm safety.

Pretoria has hauled US ambassador Leo Brent Bozell III over the coals again after he spent the past week publicly accusing the government of ignoring President Donald Trump's demands on land, race policy and farm safety.

A senior Department of International Relations and Co-operation (Dirco) official told SABC News that Bozell had been issued with a démarche on Tuesday and called in to account for what the department described as "undiplomatic conduct".

The latest diplomatic dressing-down follows a slide in relations between Pretoria and Washington to an all-time low, with both sides at loggerheads over a range of South Africa's domestic policies.

An official told IOL on Wednesday morning that the reports were accurate.

“There was indeed an engagement with the ambassador,” the official said.

“It has been the third such engagement in nine months.

“The ambassador was informed that he needs to uphold the responsibilities of his office and conduct himself accordingly.”

Dirco's most recent formal statement on the dispute responded to visa restrictions announced by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

"The announcement once again aligns with the mischaracterisation of SA's domestic policies by fringe groups who wrongly portray themselves as representatives of 'minorities' and Afrikaners in general," the department said.

"It is our sovereign right to put in place laws that address the nation's concern over centuries of racial injustice.

"We maintain that challenges in our bilateral relations with the US can only be resolved by constructive engagement through state actors on both sides of the diplomatic channel, not unilateral acts."

The demands Bozell has pressed publicly include protecting private property rights, reversing the Expropriation Act, changing black economic empowerment policies, condemning the "Kill the Boer" chant, and improving safety for farmers.

"Kill the Boer" is a song sung during the Struggle against apartheid, and South African courts have ruled that singing it is not hate speech.

Bozell delivered a message from Trump to President Cyril Ramaphosa in Pretoria in late August, asking how South Africa was addressing the demands.

Presidency spokesman Vincent Magwenya confirmed at the time that Ramaphosa would reply, but did not give a date.

Dirco first demarched Bozell on March 11, less than a month after he arrived in the country.

He had told a business conference in Hermanus the day before that he did not care what South African courts had ruled on "Kill the Boer" and that he regarded the chant as hate speech.

Dirco director-general Zane Dangor told a media briefing in Pretoria that evening that Bozell had apologised and expressed regret, including for remarks that appeared to undermine the judiciary.

International Relations Minister Ronald Lamola told the same briefing that the government welcomed public diplomacy but that it had to follow diplomatic rules.

"While SA welcomes active public diplomacy and the strengthening of bilateral ties, such engagements must remain consistent with established diplomatic etiquette and international protocols," Lamola said.

"B-BBEE is not reverse racism. It is a fundamental instrument designed to address the structural imbalances of SA's unique history."