Pretoria summoned new US Ambassador Brent Bozell Wednesday to explain comments on South African racial policies and court rulings.
Bozell, a conservative envoy who began his post last month, entered a tense bilateral relationship fractured over multiple contentious issues.
In his first public address Tuesday, Bozell called the apartheid-era chant “Kill the Boer, kill the farmer” hate speech, sparking outrage.
He also criticised black economic empowerment policies, claiming they could deter investment and comparing them misleadingly to apartheid-era race laws.
Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola said Bozell had been called in to explain “undiplomatic remarks” undermining South Africa’s judiciary and social progress.
Trump previously cited the chant to support unfounded claims of white genocide in South Africa during a May White House meeting.
South African courts, however, have ruled the chant does not constitute hate speech when viewed in the historical struggle context.
Bozell later attempted to clarify, saying his personal view differed from the US government, which respects South Africa’s judicial independence.
Lamola defended empowerment policies as constitutional tools addressing historical structural imbalances, rejecting accusations of reverse racism or societal polarisation.
Bozell, founder of the right-wing Media Research Center, has a history of polarising media commentary and controversial political positions in the United States.
He pledged to press South Africa to drop its genocide case against Israel and to promote Trump’s refugee offer to white Afrikaners.
Bozell’s family history also draws scrutiny; his son was convicted in the January 6 Capitol assault but later pardoned by Trump.
The diplomatic tension highlights the fragile state of US-South Africa relations amid polarising racial debates and contested historical narratives.