SOWETAN SAYS | Jonas best man for the job at turbulent US

President Cyril Ramaphosa has finally followed through on one of his promises, made during his state of the nation address – to appoint an envoy to help mend relations between SA and the US. 

Relations between the two countries have been strained for years, largely because of differences of opinion when it comes to geopolitics – especially the handling of Israel’s war on Gaza – as well as SA’s perceived close ties with some of the US’s adversaries. 

The situation quickly deteriorated at the beginning of the year with Donald Trump’s return to the White House as president. Since retaking office, Trump and some of his closest allies have levelled several accusations against SA, including the false claim that the country was racially discriminating against white Afrikaners and forcefully expropriating land from unwilling farmers. 

The expulsion of SA ambassador to the US, Ebrahim Rasool, from after he had made some unflattering statements about Trump, further drove home the point that something needed to be done urgently to fix the relationship. Not only is the US one of the major players in world politics, the country is also one of our biggest trading partners. 

A complete breakdown in the two countries’ relationship could lead to a jobs bloodbaths in agriculture, the automotive sector as well as various other labour-intensive industries that rely on exports to markets like the US. 

It is for this reason that we welcome Ramaphosa’s choice of Mcebisi Jonas as the country’s special envoy to the US. In this role, not to be confused with that of an ambassador which is yet to be filled, Jonas will be expected to push back against the propaganda that has been spread against SA’s foreign and domestic policies, mainly by right-wing groupings here at home such as AfriForum and Solidarity, and their sympathisers in the Republican Party. 

For the task, Ramaphosa could not have chosen a more suitable candidate. Since leaving the government after he courageously stood up against and exposed state capture corruption by the Gupta family, Jonas has earned himself a reputation as a pragmatist with extensive knowledge of geopolitics and the world economic environment.

He has also come to enjoy a lot of respect across the political divide both here at home and abroad. His track record in business, though still relatively short, would probably give some confidence within the “transactional” Trump administration that he is the type of person they can engage with. 

But, as Jonas cautioned in a statement of acceptance yesterday, we should be mindful that there will be no quick fixes to the situation and we should give the special envoy time and space to carry out this difficult task at a time when, to the outside world, the US government seems unpredictable.