Last Friday, the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, took to social media platform X to announce that SA’s ambassador to the US, Ebrahim Rasool, was “persona non grata” and was no longer welcome in the country.

In the post, Rubio accused Rasool of being a “race-baiting politician who hates America and hates @POTUS” (the president of the US)”, and that the country had nothing to discuss with him. In an official statement, Rasool was given 72 hours to leave the US...