US ‘running out of patience’ with South Africa, ambassador Bozell warns

Leo Brent Bozell III

Cape Town – The United States ambassador to South Africa, Leo Brent Bozell III, has stirred political tension after criticising several South African policies and warning that the US is “running out of patience” with the government.

Speaking at a business conference in Hermanus, Bozell said the US had made five key demands to improve relations nearly a year ago but had yet to receive a response from Pretoria.

The demands include reconsidering the Expropriation Act and broad-based black economic empowerment (B-BBEE), condemning the “Kill the Boer” chant, prioritising farm murders, and returning to a non-aligned foreign policy.

The US is also reportedly pushing South Africa to distance itself from the BRICS bloc and drop its case against Israel at the International Court of Justice.

“I’ll tell you where our position has been very firm. We put together five asks. I mentioned three but there were a few more. We’ve put them forward to the South African government. We’ve been waiting for almost a year for a response,” Bozell told the BizNews conference.

“As I’ve made clear in meetings I’ve had, the US is running out of patience. We believe more and more it becomes a statement by the South African government when it doesn’t want to respond to simple questions we have.”

Bozell insisted the chant constitutes hate speech and urged businesses to speak publicly if they believe B-BBEE harms them.

Bozell also criticised comments by Cyril Ramaphosa, who had described refugee policies by US President Donald Trump favouring white Afrikaners as “racist”.

The ambassador further questioned South Africa’s diplomatic stance, including its condolences after the killing of Iranian leader Ali Khamenei.

His remarks triggered strong reactions from South African political parties. Fikile Mbalula of the African National Congress said South Africa’s foreign policy would not be dictated by external powers and reaffirmed the country’s commitment to a multipolar world order.

“We must make it clear to all whom we welcome in our beautiful country, including the new US ambassador, that South Africa’s international relations policy will not be dictated to by anyone else but South Africans and their government.

“We reiterate that South Africa believes in a multipolar world which respects international law and international institutions that support a system of multilateralism,” said Mbalula, according to The Citizen.

The Economic Freedom Fighters responded more sharply, calling Bozell’s remarks arrogant and demanding his expulsion, while defending the chant as protected free speech.

Bozell argued that policy uncertainty and closer ties with countries viewed as US adversaries could undermine investor confidence, despite the US remaining South Africa’s largest trade and investment partner in sub-Saharan Africa, with more than 500 American companies employing over 250,000 South Africans.

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Compiled by Betha Madhomu

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