NEW US ENVOY BOZELL’S START IN SA IS UNSAVOURY

South Africa’s fate appears to be like water on the palm of the hand of the US administration. A cursory desktop search has a plethora of examples that shows the utterly lopsided bilateral ties between Pretoria and Washington. It need not be like this. Diplomatic relations between two nations are premised on fundamental ethos such as mutual respect, voluntary cooperation and a particular decorum oftentimes taught to budding career diplomats.

Not so long ago, the former US envoy to SA, Amb Reuben E. Brigety, was such a remorseless law unto himself – the extent to which he undermined our country’s authority and bordered on treason.

But then, he always got away with it – guaranteed! Even when he made those spurious claims about SA selling arms to Russia for use in war with Ukraine – this in contravention of the US-led Western sanctions against Russia – SA’s first reaction was a pathetic plea for innocence and swift presidential announcement of a commission of inquiry to probe the dubious allegations.

Mark you, Brigety had done what no foreign diplomat has ever done: Calling a press conference to make a barrage of unfounded allegations against a host nation, without following established protocols.

At the very start, Pretoria failed to lambaste Brigety’s errant and treacherous behavioral pattern that sought to bring only trouble upon a hugely hospitable host country.

I’ve always wondered with disbelief at the sheepish handling of Brigety by the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) and the Presidency alike.

I mean, judging by his intentional behavior, Brigety was aself-righteous envoy who dared his hosts at every opportunity, oftentimes displaying a shocking sense of self-importance.

When President Cyril Ramaphosa’s unnecessary Commission of Inquiry into Lady R – as the alleged weapons sales to Russia got to be known – completed its probe, it revealed no iota of evidence to back Brigety’s preposterous claims. Any consequences? Capital En-O, NO! There was none whatsoever. Soon afterwards, Brigety arrogantly packed his bags to depart; apologized for the mess he had caused our country, and praised SA for being good hosts. Who can blame his parting shot? No one should. We were good to him, albeit foolishly, and he repaid us in the way he thought of us.

Just for a minute, let’s swap the roles, and imagine a South African ambassador to the US behaving as Brigety did on SA soil, lying with a straight face and vowing that he was putting his life on his inaccurate statement. You can be rest assured, and I offer no prize for guessing what the US would have done!

This is a dangerous US diplomatic culture that SA has allowed to take root – without the requisite push back. It is a precedent that has been set by a boxing referee look-alike in the form of Brigety. At the core of this abominable behavior, Brigety unleashed a practice that deliberately seeks to make a mockery about SA’s sovereignty.

Little wonder, therefore, that Brigety’s successor, one Leo Brent Bozell III, has hit the ground running in the same streak.

Within the wink of eye, he has read the riot act to SA, barely weeks after his copy of credentials were accepted by DIRCO. The Presidency is yet to accept the original copy of his credentials, yet he has elected to run amok.

Amb Bozell arrived in SA replete with a reputation as an enthusiastic defender of Israel. His posting to our capital has been viewed in some quarters as akin to the deployment of a bully on your doorstep. Or, looked differently, big brother being assigned to baby-sit a naughty minor.

Addressing the BizNews conference in Hermanus in the Western Cape this week, Bozell tore into the SA government, laying down the gauntlet, and revealed that Washington had given Pretoria “five asks” a year ago and to date the expected response had not been forthcoming.

Even more interesting were the revelation of Bozell’s “asks”, which were listed including the following:

• (1) Rethink the Expropriation Act and broad-based black economic empowerment
• (2) Condemn the ‘Kill the Boer’ chant
• (3) Prioritize farm murders to protect white farmers and (4) To be non-aligned.

BRICS, which is a rapidly rising geopolitical force world-wide, did not survive scrutiny. The US, according to reports on Bozell, is weary of SA aligning with America’s adversaries, and wants this to come to an end.

The key word that Bozell uses – “non-aligned” – is exactly the same that his predecessor Brigety invoked.

Washington’s strategy on SA is crystal clear: If you are not with us, you are against us. Paraphrased, it could be presented simply as: My enemy must be your enemy, and my friends – your friends.

The arrogance in Bozell’s tone is equally similar to that of Brigety. Remarking on the “Kill the Boer” slogan that the courts had ruled is not hate speech, Bozell was quoted saying:“I’m sorry; I don’t care what your courts say. It’s hate speech.”

Bozell summed up his views with a stark warning to Pretoria, saying Washington’s patience with the Ramaphosa administration was wearing thin.

You see, Bozell is fresh in the post, and he is already comfortable to rattle the net. This is despite the Presidency not officially accepting his credentials yet. Bozell read SA the riot act in plain English, without hesitation, and in a vividly condescending manner. Typically, DIRCO announced that they had “demarched” Bozell, a diplomatic term meaning he was summoned in order for Pretoria to raise concern or reservation over his widely publicized comments. Predictably, and at a blistering pace, Bozell tendered his apology over his misguided remarks. But the reputational damage to SA had been caused, perhaps irreversibly, at least at the bilateral relations level.

Bozell’s start to life in SA is a terrible departure point. But his mission has nonetheless been outlined. The cat is out of the bag. SA must, in the context of the five “asks”, reconsider its ICJ court case against Israel, which is about genocide charges against the Palestinian people.

At DIRCO, someone still needs to hammer it home to Bozell: SA courts operate independently of the other spheres of goverment.

For the next three years or so that Bozell will operate from Pretoria, it seems like we all need to buckle up – the ride is going to be rough. The geopolitical weather forecast predicts a flurry of storms and bad weather conditions throughout the next few years, which now looks and feels already like an eternity.

SA needs to engage with the US away from the public glare, and use all diplomatic channels to drive the message home that we are not a banana republic. In international relations, diplomatic protocols exist for a reason. If they are not worthy of the paper they are written on, then heaven help us all.

In the wake of the Trump-led spectre of unilateralism, SA should be afraid, very afraid. From Washington with certain fury, the sum total of Bozell’s message to SA, put Biblically, is: “Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin.” In short, the writing is on the wall.

The Trump administration, with Israel in tow, has put SA on a scale and found our country wanting. The conclusion, therefore, is that our days are numberedas far as Washington is concerned. Be afraid, very afraid.