US AMBASSADOR IN HOT WATER AFTER SCATHING ATTACK ON SA GOVERNMENT
By Mpho Dube, Editor-in-Chief
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The United States Ambassador to South Africa, Leo Brent Bozell III, has been hauled before the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) for the second time this year after a scathing public attack on President Cyril Ramaphosa's government.
DIRCO confirmed to the SABC that it issued a formal demarche — the strongest diplomatic protest short of expulsion — to Bozell this week over what it called "undiplomatic conduct."
The move follows a lengthy opinion piece penned by Bozell titled The Cost of Doing Nothing, in which he accused Pretoria of deliberately stalling relations with Washington and rejected the government's version of events as "spin."
Bozell, a controversial appointment who arrived in February 2026, revealed that Washington had tabled five demands in November 2025 to reset the fractured relationship.
He claims Ramaphosa only responded formally nine months later, in September, prompting US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to impose targeted visa sanctions on South African officials.
"The South African government does not want a constructive relationship with the United States," Bozell wrote. "At a time when the South African people need
American investment the most, the South African government is rejecting a partnership."
According to Bozell, the five conditions are:
1. That SA not interfere with US processing of Afrikaner refugees.
2. That expropriation without compensation be rejected.
3. That Ramaphosa and senior officials condemn the chant "Kill the Farmer! Kill the Boer!"
4. That rural crime, including farm murders, be designated a priority crime with a funded plan.
5. That equity equivalent investment programmes (EEIP) be expanded to telecoms and mining as an alternative to B-BBEE ownership requirements.
Bozell said only the first two were "more or less dealt with."
He was blunt on the rest: "South African farmers live in fear, carrying sidearms by day and sleeping with loaded weapons by their side. What does this say about the South African government — not its people — when the President won't condemn it?"
He warned the visa restriction announced on 15 September targeting those complicit in race-based discrimination and land seizures was "a first response, calibrated and specific. But I won't pretend it's the last word either."
Pretoria has rejected the framing. DIRCO says a comprehensive response was provided and that Bozell and Rubio are trying to strip South Africa of its sovereignty and force it to bow to US demands.
President Ramaphosa has insisted there is "no evidence of persecution against white people" and that claims of white victimhood threaten post-apartheid unity.
This is Bozell's second demarche. In March 2026 he was summoned after he said he didn't care what South African courts ruled about "Kill the Boer" — that it was hate speech. He later backtracked, saying it was a personal view and that "the US government respects the independence and findings of South Africa's judiciary."
The same tension is expected over the Constitutional Court's pending ruling on the Expropriation Act.
Bozell tried to separate government from people: "We don't have a quarrel with the young entrepreneur in Soweto or the winemaker outside Stellenbosch or the software engineer in Durban trying to build a better life. Our disagreement is with the government that continues to put its ideology above its own people."
He warned South Africa risks losing billions in critical minerals, energy and telecoms investment. "The question is not how many American companies have been able to withstand the burdensome and inefficient race-based regulatory environment... it is how many companies are not investing in South Africa solely because of these additional hurdles."
The diplomatic rift has deepened since US President Donald Trump returned to the White House in January 2025, repeatedly singling out South Africa and ambushing Ramaphosa in the Oval Office with videos alleging persecution of white farmers.
DIRCO is expected to demand a formal explanation within 48 hours.
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