Ramaphosa’s misfire: White ambassador won’t win over Trump - Matt Chancey
Key topics:
Ramaphosa’s proposal of white ambassador sparks backlash
ANC’s misreading of Trump seen as harmful and tone-deaf
US–SA relations hinge on policy shifts, not symbolic gestures
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By Matt Chancey*
There is a saying in American politics when a candidate or government official has consumed too much of their own propaganda: “They are drinking their own bathwater.”
The world has seen the latest example of this with President Ramaphosa’s proposal to send a white Afrikaner as South Africa’s next ambassador to the United States in a “Hail Mary” attempt to try to repair the very rocky relationship between our two countries.
When I first heard this, I thought it must be a story in the satyrical Babylon Bee.
But, no; Ramaphosa really proposed this.
To be clear, I cannot imagine a more insulting gesture at this juncture. Yet the ANC managed to do it—which I guess should not surprise us anymore.
Let me put it this way: if President Trump wanted to make a conciliatory gesture to South Africa and sent Cyril a bucket of KFC and a big watermelon, how do you think it would be received by South Africa?
Do you see it now?
In any case, I have doubts Ramaphosa’s idea will succeed, because he’s getting major pushback from members of his own party—who are the actual racists in this story.
The ANC Delusion
The ANC really and truly believes that Donald Trump is a white supremacist. That is the “bathwater” they’ve been drinking. Perhaps they believe this because they’re among the last people on earth still watching CNN and reading Politico.
Read more:
In any case, Ramaphosa evidently thought to himself, “If I were a white supremacist, what would I want from South Africa? Oh, I know! A white ambassador! That should do the trick.”
Uh, no. It won’t. It actually makes matters worse.
It’s worse because Donald Trump is <NEWSFLASH> not a white supremacist, and he will take the gesture as an extreme insult because it illustrates what bothers him most about the ANC: its disgusting and destructive race-obsessed policies and rhetoric.
Trump’s initial jabs at South Africa have been focused on its race-based discriminatory policies on land, investment, businesses, etc. Do you think sending him a white Afrikaner is going to fix this? No. It’s going to tell Trump that the ANC believes he doesn’t know what he’s talking about—and they need to re-educate him. “So send in the white guy.” Good luck with that!
I want South Africa to have a great relationship with my country. A bad relationship could cost hundreds of thousands of jobs and many $BILLIONS annually. Not for America…for South Africa.
For this to happen requires that South Africa offer Donald Trump something—and it’s not a white Ambassador.
What Trump wants is a change in policy. Restore fair, market-based compensation in the land expropriation law. End the racist BEE laws that punish and disincentivize American investment (and harm South Africans!). Look to establish greater investment and strategic defense agreements with the US, as opposed to competitors like China.
President Ramaphosa, if South Africa offers these things to America, I assure you that Donald Trump won’t care if your next ambassador is a purple turnip. You’ll get the deal you want and your people need.
*Matt Chancey is an executive with a charitable, faith-based NGO and has worked in Africa for more than 20 years.