International Relations and Co-operation Minister Ronald Lamola says new United States (US) Ambassador to South Africa (SA), Brent Bozell III, has been démarched to explain his anti-diplomatic comments in public.
A démarche is a diplomatic message, sometimes signifying protest or displeasure.
He says Pretoria is open to diplomatic engagements, but it cannot allow other country to disrespect the sovereignty of SA.
Ambassador Bozell, who was speaking on another media platform, said the US had raised concern about the Expropriation Act and Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment policies and has not received a response from government.
Lamola says this is unacceptable.
“The Department of International Relations and Co-operation has noted recent remarks by Bozell. While SA welcomes public diplomacy and the strengthening of bilateral ties, we emphasised that such engagements must remain consistent with established etiquette and international protocols. In this regard we have called in Bozell to explain his anti-diplomatic remarks.”
–SABC–
