Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco) director-general (DG) Zane Dangor landed in the US on Friday on a trip to boost the morale of staff at the embassy which allegedly hit its lowest ebb after the expulsion of Ebrahim Rasool.
As part of his trip, Dangor will also brief the United Nations General Assembly, focusing on the strategies and priorities of South Africa’s G20 presidency.
“Thereafter, as DG, he will engage with the G20 sherpas from the US and Brazil.
“So, it’s a troika meeting of the G20 in Washington. Then the engagement with staff is likely to take place,” Lamola’s spokesperson, Chrispin Phiri, told Sunday World.
A sherpa is the personal representative of a head of state or head of government preparing for the international summit, and between summits there are multiple sherpa conferences where possible agreements are laid out.
Informally, according to government insiders, Dangor will also read the temperature on the ground in the US to establish what the expectations of the local authorities are in terms of the appointment of the new ambassador.
A source said the prospective candidate should either be a male Afrikaner or a South African of Jewish descent. Rasool is due back in the country in the coming week, and all eyes are on President Cyril Ramaphosa to make an announcement on his replacement, pending consultation with Lamola and informally with his colleagues in the ANC.
“If you put an African, a coloured person, or a non-white person, they are going to start by overcoming their race before they get an audience because the Trump regime is racist. Also, there is a strong Jewish community in the US, and any Muslim you appoint is going to have an uphill battle,” a highly placed government insider said.
The name of Deputy Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development Andries Nel has been thrown into the hat, and so is that of Ramaphosa’s adviser Gehard Koornhof.
This while a radical wing in the ANC is touting Lindiwe Zulu for the post. Our sources disagreed: “You need an Afrikaner, and at minimum you need a white person. It must also be a male because the Trump regime is chauvinist. If you choose a female, they will have to go there and deal with gender issues.”
Outside the ANC circles, former politician and businessman Roelf Meyer has been identified as possibly fit for the role.
“If there is a progressive white person outside the ANC who can advance the cause, we should consider them. You do not need a party person; you need a solid South African who will understand how to promote the national interests of the country,” said the source.
The DA has also punted its former leader, Tony Leon, and the party’s spokesperson on justice and constitutional development, Glynnis Breytenbach.
A lobbyist noted that Nel was initially the favoured candidate before Rasool’s appointment due to his deep roots in the ANC, highlighting his experience in the youth league.
“You need a white Afrikaner who will deal with the AfriForum and Solidarity nonsense from a first-person perspective. Andries will speak with Solidarity and Afriforum and say their claims are untrue.
“He is a farm boy; what they claim is their experience is also his experience.”
A diplomat emphasised the importance of selecting someone capable of advancing South Africa’s national interest, fostering essential networks, and promoting a positive or neutral outlook from the US.
“Washington is the leader of the free world; our national interest is for them to have a neutral outlook on us if it cannot be positive. You do not want them to have a negative outlook because it has consequences.”
An ANC national working committee member indicated that discussions regarding the appointment would likely occur in the upcoming meeting tomorrow. The ANC deployment committee was yet to deliberate on potential candidates.
“The names we are hearing are just speculation. The process has not come to the NWC. In any way, it is the prerogative of the president. The process starts with Dirco, which consults with the deployment committee, and then Dirco takes the names to the president.
“We need a seasoned politician, a person who understands the policies of the ANC, a person who is calm and is not a pushover. Because Trump needs somebody who he is not going to push around.”
