South Africa’s new US envoy targets ‘misinformation’

Though Jonas assumes the role following the dramatic ejection of Ambassador Ebrahim Rasool — a high-profile recall that left Pretoria’s diplomacy in Washington rudderless — he is not technically the new ambassador, and is instead a special presidential envoy. With the ambassadorial post still vacant, Jonas must stabilize the relationship without formal diplomatic cover.

His challenge is further complicated by his own political past. In 2020 during Trump’s first term, Jonas — speaking as a private citizen — called the US president a “racist” and “narcissist.” Those remarks have since resurfaced, amplified by US right-wing media just as Jonas begins outreach to American lawmakers now shaping foreign policy toward Africa.

This appointment is more than symbolic — it’s a calculated gamble.

Jonas carries the burden of a government under siege: Domestically, by political fragmentation and economic stagnation; internationally, by shifting alliances and waning influence. His task is not merely to repair a diplomatic relationship, but to reclaim South Africa’s relevance in a multipolar world.

He must also translate South Africa’s complex policies — particularly on land reform and energy — into terms that resonate in Washington. The underlying question is whether Jonas can turn this poisoned chalice into a vessel for renewal or if, as some fear, the weight of accumulated mistrust proves too heavy to bear.

His first big test will be to protect Africa’s biggest economy from the volatility stemming from Trump’s penchant for wielding economic policies as punitive measures. An open, mid-sized economy, South Africa risks being caught in the crosscurrents of US domestic politics, where Africa policy is increasingly shaped by rivalry with China and internal culture wars.”

Jonas certainly has a challenging task ahead,” Wandile Sihlobo, chief economist at Agbiz, a private-sector agriculture body, told me. “The US has raised several concerns, and land reform is a central flashpoint.”

South Africa’s Expropriation Act, which became law in January, is an attempt to resolve restitution issues related to Black farmers being forcibly removed from their land during the apartheid era. Some 30 years after the end of white minority rule, some 72% of private land is owned by white people who make up around 7% of the population, according to a 2017 land audit by the government.

The law allows land to be seized without compensation. if deemed to be in the public interest. It hasn’t yet been used to take any land, despite Trump’s claims to the contrary. Jonas will need to communicate the thinking behind the law while assuaging concerns that it will be used to persecute white South African farmers.