By Akani Nkuna
US ambassador to South Africa Brent Bozell III has been démarched and summoned by government to explain what it described as undiplomatic public remarks about the country’s policies.
The move follows comments Bozell made at the BizNews Conference in Hermanus in the Western Cape.
Bozell, who has been in South Africa in his official capacity for three-and-a-half weeks, said the US had raised concerns about South Africa’s Expropriation Act and Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) policies but had not received a response from the government.
Speaking to reporters at the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) offices in Pretoria, Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Ronald Lamola described the remarks as unacceptable.
Lamola urged the ambassador to refrain from comments that sought to sow division, undermine South Africa’s sovereignty, or cast aspersions on the country’s history, stressing that diplomatic etiquette should remain the primary mode of
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