SA seeks to balance pride with interests as US ties sour

US President Donald Trump's decision this month to send Ebrahim Rasool packing was the lowest point in ties that have been souring over a range of issues, notably the Israel-Gaza conflict.

South Africa's government has come under criticism for appointing Rasool to the key post considering he is a vocal supporter of the Palestinian cause, a red flag for Washington.

With Pretoria's genocide case against Israel over Gaza before the International Court of Justice, Trump has spread false claims about a "white genocide" under way in South Africa and cut funding.

Underscoring the US position, Trump plans to nominate a fierce defender of Israel, L. Brent Bozell, as next ambassador to South Africa, according to the US Congress website. The proposal still needs Senate approval.

Under pressure to find a replacement for Rasool who could be more palatable to Washington, President Cyril Ramaphosa acknowledged Tuesday that South Africa had a lot riding on the appointment.

"The United States is the second largest trading partner to South Africa, so therefore we need to have top class representation in the US," he said.

- Economic 'threats' -

Rasool's defiance -- saying he had no regrets for comments about supremacism that led to his expulsion and wore his persona non grata label as a "badge of dignity" -- has drawn some support at home.

Trump was "punishing South Africa" over the Israel-Gaza conflict, African National Congress (ANC) secretary general Fikile Mbalula said last week.

"We are under no illusion about the intentions of those who seek to bully us into submission with threats of unleashing economic mayhem," Mbalula wrote in the local Daily Maverick.

But calls are growing for South Africa to swallow its pride in its own interests, with US aid and investment supporting thousands of jobs in a country burdened by a 32 percent unemployment rate.

On the line is the African Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA) deal which provides duty-free access to the US market for some African products and is up for renewal in September.

"This is a 25-year trade relationship which has benefited South Africa to the tune of tens of billions of dollars," said Richard Morrow, analyst at the Brenthurst Foundation.

"It is causing a lot of concern within the government, which then provides the Trump administration with tremendous leverage."

The lashing from the United States should not be a surprise considering some of Pretoria's foreign policy choices, including its ties with Iran, he said.

"South Africa on the one hand is reaching for the reset button in terms of relations with America, but with the other hand it's shooting itself in the foot."

The presidency needed to find a new envoy with less "ideological baggage" than Rasool and who may even be "very different from who they traditionally would have appointed", he told AFP.

- 'Managing' a new low -

Mvemba Phezo Dizolele, analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said neither country could really afford to continue escalating the tension.

"They both need each other," he said.

An example was that South Africa, as a member of the BRICS grouping of major emerging economies, "has a role to play in advancing some of the interests that the US may have in those spaces."

The possible appointment of Bozell as US ambassador could add to the indignation about the attitude of Trump's administration, says Tendai Mbanje, Pretoria-based governance expert.

But South Africa needs to "manage" this and any other conflict that may arise, he says.

"South Africa is required to exercise maximum and calculated diplomacy to manage the relationship with the USA in the next four years," he told AFP.

"Both nations need each other in trade and international cooperation. Win-win situations should be pursued for mutual benefit."