By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
President Cyril Ramaphosa is considering to appoint his special adviser Alistair Ruiters to represent South Africa in Washington, despite lack of diplomatic experience.
Sunday Times has reported that Ruiters is tipped to be next ambassador to the US.
This follows the abrupt expulsion of former ambassador Ebrahim Rasool in March 2025.
Rasool returned to South Africa after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio expelled him and stripped him of his diplomatic privileges.
He previously served as ambassador to the US from 2010 to 2015 during the Barack Obama administration, was reappointed in January 2025 under the Joe Biden and later Trump administrations.
The US is South Africa’s second-largest bilateral trading partner after China.
South Africa’s automobile, farming and textile sectors had enjoyed duty-free access to the US market under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which was enacted in 2000 to help countries on the continent create jobs and grow their economies.
However diplomatic relations between the two countries have been strained by South Africa’s Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) policies to address the legacy of centuries of racial inequality and its genocide case against Israel at the World Court, which Israel and the U.S. vehemently oppose.
South Africa now faces the highest rate in sub-Saharan Africa, reflecting on strained relationship with US.
DTIC Minister Parks Tau said the negotiations with the USA continue, but no deal has been announced with the world’s largest economy.
On top of economic headwinds, South Africa’s relationship with the US has faced other diplomatic issues outside of Rasool.
Ramaphosa’s special envoy to the US, Mcebisi Jonas, has made no diplomatic headway after a past video clip emerged of him criticising Trump.
In August, International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco) Minister Ronald Lamola said the process of appointing South Africa’s ambassador to the US is imminent.
Ruiters was appointed as a special advisor in investment promotion by the president in April and has previously worked in senior roles in both the public and private sectors.
He was the director general of the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition between 2000 and 2005.
He was a competition commissioner and served as CEO of the National Empowerment Fund and the Pebble Bed Modular Reactor before moving to the mining group Afarak in 2009.