South Africa is on the verge of appointing a new ambassador to the US — a post that has been vacant for months. During that time, President Donald Trump has criticised Pretoria’s Black empowerment and foreign policies and imposed punitive tariffs on its imports.
“We will be appointing a well-versed and well-rounded person as ambassador to the US,” with the candidate’s name to be finalized and made public soon, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa told lawmakers in Cape Town on Tuesday. The new envoy will know the American market extremely well, he said.