SA presidential envoy has much explaining to do in the US
16 April 2025 - 14:20
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
Mcebisi Jonas. Picture: STEVEN FERDMAN/GETTY IMAGES
Whether presidential envoy to the US Mcebisi Jonas gets to engage face to face with US President Donald Trump or not, his mission to Washington is fraught with potential controversies and pitfalls (“Ramaphosa’s diplomatic gambit with Mcebisi Jonas”, April 14).
How will Jonas, who chairs an SA-based multinational corporation (telecom group MTN) that has enormous investments in Iran, one of America’s most hated countries with ties to Hamas and Hezbollah, be welcomed by the Trump administration?
And how will he deal with the inevitable questions about the SA department of international relations & co-operation’s alleged prior knowledge of the Hamas attack on Israel, former minister Naledi Pandor’s sudden visit to Iran shortly after that attack, Hamas’s visit to SA and the subsequent “genocide” case against Israel?
How will he explain the need for the “nil compensation” clause in the Expropriation Act and the ANC’s insistence on it, an issue that has raised deep suspicion and concerns from Trump?
What will he say about his own insulting “narcissistic, homophobic” description of Trump, and how will he explain away “Kill the Boer” (Julius Malema), “Trump deserves the middle finger” (Good party leader Patricia de Lille), a “neocolonial imperialist Trump administration” (ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula) and “whether you like it or not” (cash-in-couch President Cyril Ramaphosa)?
Do such comments reflect the required level of democracy, political maturity and civil stability needed to underpin America’s diplomatic and trade relationships with SA?
Given the above and the rampant corruption among SA politicians, even at the highest level of government, Jonas is unlikely to be warmly welcomed by the topsy-turvy US president or his administration.
David Gant Kenilworth
JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Send us an email with your comments to letters@businesslive.co.za. Letters of more than 300 words will be edited for length. Anonymous correspondence will not be published. Writers should include a daytime telephone number.
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
LETTER: Jonas faces the music
SA presidential envoy has much explaining to do in the US
Whether presidential envoy to the US Mcebisi Jonas gets to engage face to face with US President Donald Trump or not, his mission to Washington is fraught with potential controversies and pitfalls (“Ramaphosa’s diplomatic gambit with Mcebisi Jonas”, April 14).
How will Jonas, who chairs an SA-based multinational corporation (telecom group MTN) that has enormous investments in Iran, one of America’s most hated countries with ties to Hamas and Hezbollah, be welcomed by the Trump administration?
And how will he deal with the inevitable questions about the SA department of international relations & co-operation’s alleged prior knowledge of the Hamas attack on Israel, former minister Naledi Pandor’s sudden visit to Iran shortly after that attack, Hamas’s visit to SA and the subsequent “genocide” case against Israel?
How will he explain the need for the “nil compensation” clause in the Expropriation Act and the ANC’s insistence on it, an issue that has raised deep suspicion and concerns from Trump?
What will he say about his own insulting “narcissistic, homophobic” description of Trump, and how will he explain away “Kill the Boer” (Julius Malema), “Trump deserves the middle finger” (Good party leader Patricia de Lille), a “neocolonial imperialist Trump administration” (ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula) and “whether you like it or not” (cash-in-couch President Cyril Ramaphosa)?
Do such comments reflect the required level of democracy, political maturity and civil stability needed to underpin America’s diplomatic and trade relationships with SA?
Given the above and the rampant corruption among SA politicians, even at the highest level of government, Jonas is unlikely to be warmly welcomed by the topsy-turvy US president or his administration.
David Gant
Kenilworth
JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Send us an email with your comments to letters@businesslive.co.za. Letters of more than 300 words will be edited for length. Anonymous correspondence will not be published. Writers should include a daytime telephone number.
Ramaphosa’s US diplomatic gambit with Mcebisi Jonas
LETTER: Stuck in dystopian darkness
CARTOON: Mission impossible
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Most Read
Related Articles
Ramaphosa’s US diplomatic gambit with Mcebisi Jonas
CARTOON: Mission impossible
LETTER: Stuck in dystopian darkness
EDITORIAL: Resuscitating the national dialogue
Published by Arena Holdings and distributed with the Financial Mail on the last Thursday of every month except December and January.