South Africa defends envoy to US who called Trump racist, homophobic

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa will not be replacing his newly appointed special envoy to the US, who called President Donald Trump a racist, homophobic and narcissistic “right-winger,” the presidency said Wednesday.

Mcebisi Jonas is said to have made the comments after Trump lost to Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential elections.

Presidential spokesman Vincent Magwenya said Jonas's comments were made in his personal capacity and that South Africa was of the belief that the Trump administration will appreciate that in politics, things do get said, but that does not mean people are beholden to those positions.

"Equally, unkind remarks have been said about the African continent by President Trump, and there is no African leader who holds those comments against him. Political issues such as the tariff situation should be kept separate from personal opinions,” Magwenya was quoted as saying by the South African Broadcasting Corporation.

He said there was a sense that everyone now wanted to move forward positively in terms of the relationship with the United States.

Ramaphosa appointed Jonas, a former deputy finance minister, to the role on Monday, replacing Ebrahim Rasool, who was expelled last month by the US in a diplomatic row between the two countries over remarks he had made about the Trump administration.