By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Caption: A presentation by H.E. Mr. Thabo Thage, the Ambassador of South Africa to Bulgaria at the regular meting of Rotary Club Sofia International took place on 15 January 2020.
South Africa plans to appoint an acting ambassador to the United States (US) to ease diplomatic tensions after the last envoy was declared persona non grata.
A former ambassador to Bulgaria, Thabo Thage is earmarked for the position to represent South Africa as its top diplomat in the US.
He is the first to the position after the former ambassador, Ebrahim Rasool, was expelled last year.
The US is South Africa’s biggest trade partner after China.
Relations between South Africa and the United States have deteriorated since Donald Trump returned to the White House. The US president has repeatedly criticised the government of Cyril Ramaphosa, accusing it of failing to protect the country’s white minority and condemning its land reform policies.
Tensions escalated further when the United States imposed the highest tariffs of any African country on South African exports, deepening strains between the two governments.
Department of International Relations and Cooperation, (DIRCO) could not be reached for comment and as soon as we receive their comment it will be added.
Thage served twice as a Head of Mission in Shanghai, as well as Consul General, and in Chile as an Ambassador before moving to Bulgaria.
He is an experienced career diplomat with a demonstrated 20 year history of working at senior government administration level with corporate industries in South Africa, the Gulf Region, Europe, China and lately Latin America.
Thage has a Master’s degree in International Relations/ Political Economy from Coventry University, UK.
Meanwhile South Africa’s government has summoned the United States ambassador to the country to discuss his “undiplomatic remarks”, a sign of the deepening rift between Pretoria and Washington.
International Relations minister Ronald Lamola announced that Ambassador Leo Brent Bozell III had been summoned Wednesday, following a series of comments from the envoy, who took his post last month.
The summons comes as Trump continues to heap pressure on South African government, based on claims that white Afrikaners face persecution in the country.