Des Erasmus
The US Senate has confirmed conservative activist and media critic Leo Brent Bozell III as Washington’s next ambassador to South Africa, filling a post that has been vacant for months as relations between the countries worsen.
Bozell’s confirmation was included in an en bloc package of nominations approved in a roll call vote on Thursday.
His appointment comes as ties between Washington and Pretoria have been increasingly strained by disputes that include the Trump administration’s controversial refugee policy for Afrikaners, and clashes over South Africa’s domestic and foreign-policy positions, including the expropriation of land.
The Trump administration this month barred South Africa from the G20 in 2026, which the US will host, accusing Pretoria of pursuing “anti-American” policies. Trump snubbed the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Johannesburg in November for the same reason.
Tensions again flared this week when South Africa arrested and deported seven Kenyan nationals working at a US-linked refugee processing centre.
In written testimony submitted to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee during his 23 October nomination hearing, Bozell said he was appearing “at a challenging moment for US-South Africa relations”.
He said at the time that if confirmed as ambassador, he would “communicate our objections to South Africa’s geostrategic drift from non-alignment toward our competitors, including Russia, China and Iran.
“I would press South Africa to end proceedings against Israel before the International Court of Justice and to pressure the International Criminal Court prosecutor to discontinue this lawfare, which is belied by Israel’s support for the ceasefire in Gaza and commitment to the rules of war throughout the conflict.”
Reuters reported earlier this month that Bozell was among dozens of Trump nominees advanced in Senate procedural voting as the chamber moved a large batch of nominations under updated rules.
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