{"id":93273,"date":"2024-11-13T13:02:32","date_gmt":"2024-11-13T11:02:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/?p=93273"},"modified":"2024-11-13T13:02:32","modified_gmt":"2024-11-13T11:02:32","slug":"ebrahim-rasool-set-to-return-to-us-as-sa-ambassador","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/ebrahim-rasool-set-to-return-to-us-as-sa-ambassador\/","title":{"rendered":"Ebrahim Rasool set to return to US as SA ambassador"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sameera Casmod | sameerac@radioislam.co.za<\/a>
\n13 November 2024 | 13:03 CAT
\n1-minute read<\/p>\n

\"\"

Image: EWN<\/p><\/div>\n

Rasool, who served as South Africa\u2019s ambassador to the US under Obama\u2019s administration, will be returning to Washington as ambassador for the second Trump presidency.<\/p>\n

In his role, Rasool will be responsible for repairing South Africa\u2019s relationship with the states- a role upon which a lot depends. In an interview on Radio Islam International, Rasool said that improving ties with the US will secure the African Growth and Opportunities Act, the US$50 billion worth of economic investment and the jobs of the 200\u00a0000 South Africans who work for US companies.<\/p>\n

His work as ambassador is likely to be significantly more difficult now than when he was there in the same capacity under Barack Obama.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s significantly more difficult because under the Obama administration, you had a modicum of solidarity politically between South Africa and the US because of the anti-apartheid struggle. But with the Trump administration. I think we didn\u2019t adjust our diplomatic stance,\u201d Rasool said.<\/p>\n

He cited the need for a \u201ctransactional\u201d approach and said the focus should be on economic diplomacy to foster a constructive relationship.<\/p>\n

South Africa\u2019s support for Palestine and its perceived alignment with Russia over the Ukraine conflict have altered diplomatic dynamics with the US \u2013 something \u00a0Rasool says will necessitate a clear strategy for South Africa to assert its own national interests.<\/p>\n

Rasool\u2019s views have not gone without criticism. Former opposition leader Tony Leon recently questioned whether Trump would be receptive to Rasool, recalling the ambassador\u2019s past critical comments about Trump. However, Rasool emphasised the strategic necessity of building a transactional foundation with the US, pointing to critical minerals and other economic opportunities as areas of potential collaboration.<\/p>\n

On a personal note, Rasool acknowledged the sacrifices involved in returning to Washington with his family, particularly for his wife, an executive life coach who recently published her first book. Nonetheless, the couple remains committed to South Africa\u2019s progress, he affirmed, underscoring his dedication to the country\u2019s post-corruption recovery.<\/p>\n

Listen <\/strong>to the full interview<\/a> on Sabaahul Muslim with Moulana Sulaimaan Ravat.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sameera Casmod | sameerac@radioislam.co.za 13 November 2024 | 13:03 CAT 1-minute read Rasool, who served as South Africa\u2019s ambassador to the US under Obama\u2019s administration, will be returning to Washington as ambassador for the second Trump presidency. In his role, Rasool will be responsible for repairing South Africa\u2019s relationship with the states- a role upon […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":93274,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[28,4995],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-93273","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news","category-south-africa"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/rasool-ebrahim-scaled.jpeg?fit=2560%2C1707&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pc0QIf-ogp","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-27 23:23:43","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93273","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=93273"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93273\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/93274"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93273"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=93273"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=93273"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}