US President Donald Trump has named conservative media critic and pro-Israel commentator Leo Brent Bozell III as ambassador to South Africa, amid worsening diplomatic ties between the two countries.
Mr Bozell ‘s nomination follows Washington’s expulsion of South Africa’s ambassador, Ebrahim Rasool, for remarks deemed critical of Trump.
The Trump administration has condemned South Africa’s legal action against Israel at the International Court of Justice over the war in Gaza and has falsely accused its government of persecuting white South Africans to seize their land.
The nomination must still be confirmed by the US Senate.
Mr Bozell, 69, was previously nominated to lead the US Agency for Global Media – a now-shuttered umbrella organisation that oversaw Voice of America and Radio Free Europe – but the bid was later withdrawn.
Earlier in his career, he founded the Media Research Center – which has the stated mission of “identifying liberal bias” – and the Parents Television Council, among other conservative groups.
His son, Leo, was among those who stormed the US Capitol on 6 January 2021. He was convicted last year and sentenced to nearly four years in prison.
US-South Africa relations have deteriorated sharply under Trump.
The US expelled Ebrahim Rasool earlier in March, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio describing him as a “race-baiting politician”.
In an X post announcing that Rasool was “no longer welcome”, Rubio linked to an article from the right-wing outlet Breitbart that cited Rasool’s comments accusing Trump of trying to “project white victimhood as a dog whistle”.
While lower-ranking diplomats are sometimes expelled, it is highly unusual in the US for it to happen to a more senior official.
In February, Trump also signed an executive order freezing US aid to South Africa, citing “unjust racial discrimination” against white Afrikaners. The order references a new law, the Expropriation Act, which allows the government to take away private land.
White South Africans, including Afrikaners, make up 7.2% of the population but hold 72% of individually-owned farmland, according to a 2018 government land audit.
South Africa’s government, led by the African National Congress (ANC) in a coalition of 10 parties, said earlier that Trump’s actions were based on ” a campaign of misinformation and propaganda aimed at misrepresenting our great nation”.
