Following President Cyril Ramaphosa’s appointment of former Deputy Finance Minister Mcebisi Jonas as a special envoy to the US on April 14, public comments made by Jonas in 2020, in which he disparaged US President Donald Trump, have been brought into the spotlight.

These comments may result in Jonas being given the “cold shoulder” in Washington DC, assuming he is even allowed to enter the country, retired US Army Colonel and current independent journalist and political analyst Chris Wyatt has told Engineering News.

During his delivery of the Eleventh Ahmed Kathrada Foundation lecture in November 2020, Jonas publicly stated that Trump was a “racist, homophobic, narcissistic right-winger”.

Jonas’ comments echo Ambassador to the US Ebrahim Rasool’s injudicious statements in March about Trump leading a global “white supremacist” movement, which led to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio declaring Rasool persona non grata and giving him 72 hours to leave the US.

An official replacement for Rasool has yet to be announced.

Wyatt, who worked in the US intelligence community for several decades and has served in more than 30 US embassies during his career, eight of which were in Africa, has told Engineering News that he has no doubt the White House will be aware of Jonas’s comments and will not react favourably.

Although Jonas is unlikely to be designated persona non grata like Rasool because he will merely be a special envoy and not an official ambassador, his publicly aired insults against Trump are unlikely to help him smooth the troubled diplomatic relationship between South Africa and the US, Wyatt noted.

“Trump believes in free speech. But Jonas is going to get the cold shoulder. He's going to have a hard time getting office calls. I guarantee that. People are not going to want to talk to him because they're going to know what his true feelings are,” Wyatt said.

Jonas, meanwhile, told 702 radio on April 15 that the comments he had made in 2020 were said in his private capacity and not as part of government. Jonas said he would also not be the first politician to have said something nasty about another politician.

“At the time, I was outside of government. At the time, I was speaking as an activist. I'm sure if you Google any politician, they’ve said something nasty about one politician or the other. But the reality of the matter is that the challenge that we all face and the task at hand, it is to work on the relations between the two countries. I'm committed to doing that [and] I've got the backing of government,” Jonas said.

He also acknowledged that repairing the relationship with the US would take time and that the situation was “complex”.

“We must not make the mistake that most of the problems have started suddenly with the Trump administration. Most of the issues, whether they are issues of trade, whether they are kind of economic relations issues, or whether . . . geopolitical issues, all of these issues predate the current administration in the US,” Jonas pointed out.

US-South African diplomatic relations are at a post-Apartheid low, which could spell trouble for the already ailing domestic economy.

“I think we have . . . more than 600 companies from the US operating in South Africa. We still have a trade balance that is positive for South Africa, and so all of those things point to the fact that the basis for a long-term relationship is there, and it's a matter of us working and dealing with some of the problems and challenges,” Jonas told 702.

Trump has been highly critical of the African National Congress’s (ANC’s) promulgation of the Expropriation Act, and signed an executive order, EO 14204, under which the US will consider “refugee resettlement for disfavoured ethnic minority Afrikaners facing unjust racial discrimination in South Africa".

South Africa’s favourable trade access under the African Growth and Opportunities Act (Agoa) has been nullified by recent 10% tariff on its exports, and 25% on automotives, automotive components, steel and aluminium.

South African is also potentially facing 30% reciprocal tariffs once a 90-day pause announced earlier this month expires – this despite the fact that the US Congress will only finalise its Agoa review in September.

Other policy positions in the US have already had a direct financial impact on South Africa, following the withdrawal of aid previously extended to South Africa under the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief and under the Just Energy Transition Partnership.

Conflicting policy positions between the two countries were also evident in Rubio’s decision not to attend the G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, in Johannesburg, in February, taking issue with South Africa’s G20 theme of ‘Solidarity, Equality, Sustainability’.

Most recently, Trump highlighted chatter about land expropriation without compensation by the likes of Economic Freedom Front leader Julius Malema – a member of Parliament – in a Truth Social post a few days ago, adding that he intended not to attend the G20 later this year as a consequence.

Given the poor state of diplomatic relations with the US, there is no denying that Jonas has a mammoth task ahead of him, yet his publicly stated disdain for Trump made him a poor choice, Wyatt asserted.

Speaking to 702, Jonas said his role as special envoy could be viewed as a mechanism to ease the environment for the development of an improved diplomatic relationship between South Africa and the US, and to pave the way for the permanent appointment of Rasool’s replacement.

“There's always a tendency to over-personalise politics. The reality, though, is different. There is complexity. There [are] multiple personalities influencing the direction of where things go. And it does require [politicians to have a] very sharp focus on what they are doing and understanding and patience to be able to get over the challenges they face,” Jonas said.

Ramaphosa has entrusted Jonas with the responsibility to advance South Africa's diplomatic, trade and bilateral priorities. He will be expected to lead negotiations, foster strategic partnerships and engage with US government officials and private-sector leaders to promote South Africa’s interests.

“For decades, South Africa and the US have maintained a historical and strategic relationship. In the interest of our country, our region and the rest of our continent, I remain committed to rebuilding and maintaining this relationship for more decades on the basis of mutual respect, recognition of each other’s sovereignty and benefit for our respective peoples,” Ramaphosa said on April 14.

However, Wyatt said sending Jonas to the US could still be seen as an insult.

“Obviously, Ramaphosa’s office knows who this guy is. They know he has said this sort of thing. This is insulting to the American government. I don't think the South African government wants to repair relations. Trump’s EO 14204 was issued on February 7. However, 2.5 months later, they still haven't sent a team to Washington DC to talk. I don’t know what they’re expecting here,” he said.

US news outlet Breitbart, meanwhile, described the “globalist” values expressed by Jonas in the 2020 lecture as being potentially more troubling than his comments about Trump, given that they are at odds with the ‘America First’ agenda being pursued by the current administration.

Another issue with Jonas that has raised eyebrows is that he currently serves as telecommunications company MTN nonexecutive chairperson, which has ties to Iran – a strategic adversary to US interests.

MTN is the sole publicly traded South African company with a substantial investment in Iran, maintaining a 49% shareholding in Irancell, the nation’s second-largest mobile network operator. The remaining 51% of Irancell is held by the Iran Electronic Development Company, positioning MTN as a key international stakeholder in Iran’s telecommunications sector.

The US has already fiercely criticised South Africa for its close relationship with Iran, with Texas Congressman Ronnie Jackson submitting to Congress the US-SA Bilateral Relations Review Act of 2025 last month on this basis, among other things.

The Bill proposes targeted sanctions against key political figures and ANC members in South Africa on the grounds that they have allegedly been working against US interests by cosying up to Iran and other strategically US-opposed nations and organisations.

Wyatt posited that one reason Jonas was chosen was because the ANC might have begun to run out of sufficiently qualified people to do the job.

“From a human capital standpoint, I think the ANC bench is empty. Many of the most talented people from the liberation era have either died or left the stage. I don't think they've been replaced with qualified, good people beyond that, because the ANC became a patronage machine, and people got power by becoming counsellors or becoming members of Parliament."

He added that much of the ANC’s efforts were being expended on political contestations within the Government of National Unity, leaving politicians distracted and preoccupied with party politics rather than running the country.

“I think a lot of energy is wasted on that. Instead of working as a coalition, they're working against each other and not for South Africans. That’s why they're missing the boat on the US, and either they don't get how stupid they're being, or they're doing it intentionally,” Wyatt said.

Portfolio Committee on International Relations chairperson Supra Mahumapelo, meanwhile, praised the appointment of Jonas, stating that he hoped the newly appointed special envoy would be able to educate the US government on “the real essence of the South African dispensation”.

“It is our hope that, whilst the envoy will not immediately provide a complete solution to this problem, it will contribute to adding value as part of the broader efforts to help . . . Trump and his administration to understand the essence of South African democracy,” he said.