If an ambassador’s job includes fostering strong diplomatic, cultural and economic relations with the host country, one wonders why President Donald Trump would bother to appoint an envoy to Pretoria given his open hostility and the actions he’s already taken against this country — all based on a fusillade of blatant lies.
Brent Bozell, the man Trump tapped to be his eyes and ears in South Africa, has a challenging assignment. What exactly is his mission? Is he here to make friends or — in line with his boss’s inclination — cause even more trouble? Is he coming here to tell the natives to behave? Why would Trump need an ambassador anyway when the likes of AfriForum seem to be doing a good enough job as his resident tattletales? Judging from comments by Trump’s local fan club, Bozell is here to read us the riot act.
Trump’s animosity has left the government bewildered, dumbfounded — and floundering. It still doesn’t know what’s hit it — or how to respond. President Cyril Ramaphosa’s fumbled appointment of Mcebisi Jonas as his envoy to deal with the Trump enigma has shown the sort of sloppiness that one has come to expect from his government.
But it’s no surprise at all. Cock-ups are his administration’s speciality, if not its raison d’etre. It is so incompetent we’re only surprised when, on rare occasions, it gets something right.
There’s nothing inaccurate in what Jonas said about Trump in 2020. But given the fact that Ebrahim Rasool was summarily booted out for making critical comments about Trump, one would have thought the mandarins would have been roused from their usual comatosis. We’ve now handed the Americans yet another stick for our backs.
It would be hard to find anyone of stature who has not told the truth about Trump — a vindictive liar, bigot, narcissist, sexual abuser, felon ... the list goes on. But then he is the US president. He needs to be taken seriously. He’s a bully and he wields a big stick. And he doesn’t hesitate to use it.
Few people have said more wounding things about Trump than Bozell himself. Like his boss, Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, he’s not always been a Trump fan. During the 2016 Republican primaries, Bozell called Trump “the greatest charlatan of them all, a huckster and a shameless self-promoter”. He was spot on. “God help this country if this man were president.” Again, he was on the money. However, after Trump won the nomination, Bozell did a volte face, criticising the media for its “hatred” of Trump. He seems like a man struggling to locate his backbone.
But Trump seems to get a kick from rewarding turncoats. Bozell’s son Leo, a Trump partisan, was sentenced to 45 months in jail last May for his participation in storming the Capitol on January 6 2021. On returning to the White House, Trump wasted no time in pardoning him.
Bozell seems to be suggesting that his son was held in captivity, like a POW. And he’ll presumably be coming here to lecture us about upholding the rule of law
Bozell was ecstatic. “My son and six of his J6 buddies released from captivity last night,” he wrote on X. “He is home with his wife and his three girls this morning. Thank you, Mr President.” The grovelling homage of a grateful father. His son was involved in an attempt to bring down the government by violent and unlawful means — a treasonable act — and was convicted and sentenced by a court of law; yet he seems to be suggesting that his son was held in captivity, like a prisoner of war. And he’ll presumably be coming here to lecture us about upholding the rule of law.
South Africa is not — and should not be — picking a fight with Trump. But it should not sacrifice its principles either. There’s obviously an influential segment in this country who’ve always regarded the US as the evil empire, who fulminate against the so-called Washington consensus, Nato expansionism and other Western or colonial iniquities.
To such people, Trump and his cronies simply fit the bill; the typical Yankee — loud and rude. But the great majority of South Africans have no beef with the US. They partake of its cultural output — its music, movies, literature and so on — and keep abreast of American trends in everything from fashion to slang.
Many have studied and obtained degrees and skills in the US and made enduring friendships in the process, and have nothing but fond memories of their stay there. Others, fleeing from political harassment at home, spent their years in exile in the US. And of course, US corporations have become fixtures of the South African landscape, making a mint and offering jobs to thousands of workers. US administrations supported minority white governments in South Africa over the years because of their anti-communist stance; but on the other hand it was US sanctions that ultimately broke the back of apartheid.
Trump has caused a reassessment of attitudes towards the US. Not that South Africans question his decision to halt financial aid; it’s his money, after all. He can do whatever he wants with it. In any case, this country has no business living off handouts. It would have enough resources of its own to take care of its people if only the political elite didn’t regard the fiscus as their personal kitty.
Many people may not agree with the decisions or policies of this government, but they take exception to blatant lies being spread about their country from the loudest megaphone on the planet.
Four centuries ago, English author and politician Sir Henry Wotton described an ambassador as “an honest gentleman sent to lie abroad for the good of his country”. Bozell will have to decide whether to stick with Trump’s falsehoods or defy his boss and make a proper, honest evaluation of the country — warts and all.
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