South African president warns against 'divisiveness politics' as expelled envoy returns

JOHANNESBURG - South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday urged compatriots to reject "the politics of divisiveness" coming from other parts of the world, following the arrival of Ebrahim Rasool, the country's expelled ambassador to the United States.

"We should challenge the completely false narrative that our country is a place in which people of a certain race or culture are being targeted for persecution," he stressed in his weekly newsletter to the nation.

Ramaphosa emphasized that claims suggesting certain groups of people were being mistreated must be rejected. "In South Africa today, all citizens, African, white, Indian and colored, male and female, enjoy equal rights and freedoms that the state is obliged to uphold, protect and advance," he noted.

This message came as South Africa recently marked Human Rights Day, which commemorates the Sharpeville Massacre of March 21, 1960, when apartheid police killed 69 unarmed protesters.

While Ramaphosa did not mention any specific countries or leaders, criticism of South Africa's government has largely come from US politicians, including President Donald Trump. This culminated in Trump signing an executive order granting Afrikaners refugee status in the United States.

Rasool arrived at Cape Town International Airport on Sunday. He was expected to travel to Pretoria, the administrative capital of South Africa, on Monday to meet with Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Ronald Lamola.

The Department of International Relations and Cooperation issued a statement on Monday regarding the meeting. The department also mentioned that a formal report will be submitted to the resident for his consideration, and that the matter will not be discussed publicly. "Pending this, the ministry or department will not engage in public engagements on the matter," the statement said.