Ambassador Brent Bozell called the remarks a personal insult and blamed Pretoria\u2019s alleged attacks on US leaders for \u201ccollapsing\u201d relations<\/p>\n
South African Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola told the US ambassador to \u201cget out of the kitchen\u201d if he is tired of dialogue, amid tensions over Washington\u2019s demands to scrap black economic empowerment policies and roll back land reform.
\nThe remarks, published by the Sunday Times, followed South Africa\u2019s third formal diplomatic protest against Ambassador Leo Brent Bozell III since he took up his post in February. Lamola said the envoy\u2019s public interventions amount to interference in South Africa\u2019s domestic affairs.
\nLamola was responding to Bozell\u2019s September 16 post on X declaring that the time for further dialogue is over and warning of \u201csevere\u201d consequences. The ambassador said newly announced US visa restrictions on South African officials and others accused of enabling uncompensated land seizures, racial discrimination, and incitement to violence against minority groups, including Afrikaners, are \u201conly the first step in a series of escalatory measures.\u201d
\n\u201cYou can\u2019t have a diplomat who says the time for talking is over\u2026 It\u2019s our job to talk. So if you can\u2019t talk as a diplomat and you cannot dialogue, get out of the kitchen,\u201d Lamola told the Sunday Times.<\/p>\n
READ MORE: \u2018Hate speech\u2019 and \u2018genocide\u2019 claims: Why has South Africa summoned the US envoy?<\/p>\n
Bozell responded on Sunday, describing Lamola\u2019s comments as another personal insult directed at a US leader. \u201cAnd then the South African government wonders why relations are collapsing,\u201d he wrote on X.<\/p>\n
So here we go again. Another Minister Lamola personal insult aimed at an American leader (this time me) which, when denounced (which I\u2019m doing now), will result in a demarche with a lecture about being \u201cundiplomatic.\u201d And then the South African government wonders why relations are collapsing.\u2014 U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of South Africa (@USAmbRSA) October 4, 2026<\/p>\n
The confrontation is the latest sign of deteriorating relations between Pretoria and Washington since US President Donald Trump returned to office in January 2025. The two governments have clashed over land reform, Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) requirements, Pretoria\u2019s ties with Russia, China, and Iran, and its genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice.
\nTrump ordered a halt to US aid in February 2025, citing alleged discrimination against Afrikaners and South Africa\u2019s foreign policy. Washington expelled South African Ambassador Ebrahim Rasool the following month and has since announced targeted visa restrictions.<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
Are white farmers really persecuted? What\u2019s behind the US-South Africa spat<\/p>\n
Pretoria first summoned Bozell in March over \u201cundiplomatic remarks\u201d after he criticized a court ruling on \u2018Kill the Boer\u2019, an apartheid-era struggle chant. He subsequently expressed regret and said he respects the independence of South Africa\u2019s judiciary. Bozell has also argued that B-BBEE requirements obstruct billions of dollars in potential American investment. The policy seeks to expand black participation in business ownership, management, and economic opportunities following decades of exclusion under apartheid.
\nIn an interview published on Sunday, South African Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni rejected the demand to abandon the B-BBEE. \u201cRedress is a constitutional obligation, not a bargaining chip,\u201d she said, arguing that scrapping it would preserve apartheid\u2019s economic outcomes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ambassador Brent Bozell called the remarks a personal insult and blamed Pretoria\u2019s alleged attacks on US leaders for \u201ccollapsing\u201d relations South African Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola told the US ambassador…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":39410,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39409","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t