Overview
- International Relations Minister Ronald Lamola summoned U.S. Ambassador L. Brent Bozell III and issued a formal demarche after his public dismissal of a Constitutional Court ruling on the 'Kill the Boer' chant.
- Bozell told a Hermanus business forum, 'I don’t care what your courts say,' then posted a clarification on X affirming U.S. respect for South Africa’s judiciary while maintaining his personal view.
- In the same engagement, Bozell highlighted U.S. policy asks that include recalibrating B-BBEE equity requirements, tightening the Expropriation Act to ensure fair‑market compensation, condemning the chant, and prioritizing farm attacks.
- Government figures and analysts split over the envoy’s approach, with Lamola warning on conduct, the Presidency’s spokesperson saying Bozell spoke as if to a colony, and critics questioning the DA’s pushback on the demarche.
- UDM leader and deputy minister Bantu Holomisa met Bozell in Pretoria and urged him to verify “white genocide” claims, as the envoy promotes investment outreach, including an accelerator and a SelectUSA invitation, alongside ongoing AGOA talks.