The pressure has not been confined to South Africa. Across the SADC region, Washington has pressed states over access to resources and over their independent foreign policies.
In Namibia, a petition launched by activist Michael Amushelelo on August 27, 2026, called on the government to declare US Ambassador John Giordano persona non grata and expel him from the country. It accuses Washington of using its embassy in Windhoek to pressure Namibian officials over access to the country’s newly discovered oil, uranium, and other critical minerals, and of intervening in domestic policy debates where US commercial interests are at stake. Amushelelo describes the campaign as “economic colonialism dressed up as friendship”.
“Our oil is not American oil. Our uranium is not American uranium. Our minerals are not American minerals. They belong to the people of Namibia,” he said.
On September 8, 2026, Ambassador Giordano was turned away from Namibia’s National Fisheries Indaba in Walvis Bay after arriving without an official invitation. President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah was inside the hall at the time. Officials said no diplomats had been invited to the restricted domestic policy forum.
The exclusion of the US envoy from a domestic policy gathering signals that Windhoek is increasingly unwilling to grant Washington privileged access to forums where Namibian resources and economic policy are discussed.
Back in South Africa, tensions escalated further in 2026. In March 2026, Bozell told a business forum in the Western Cape that Washington was “running out of patience” with South Africa and issued what the Presidency characterised as “thinly veiled threats”. He said he did not care what South Africa’s courts said about the “Kill the Boer” chant, and claimed South Africa had more than 150 laws “aimed against whites”.
Presidential spokesperson Vincent Magwenya responded: “It sounds like he’s talking to a colony or a subsidiary of the US government. We’re a sovereign country, and words like those are inflammatory”.
Critics say the Americans have lost their bearings. Bozell has spent months issuing threats, interfering in South Africa’s domestic affairs, and attacking the country’s courts. Countries such as Zimbabwe have declared US diplomats persona non grata and expelled them when they overstepped.
South Africa has the same sovereign right under Article 9 of the Vienna Convention, as Namibia does, and should exercise it by declaring Bozell persona non grata and expelling him. What citizens are pressing for are reciprocal measures to be taken against Bozell and Washington’s representatives, whether through summons to the Department of International Relations and Cooperation, a formal note of protest, or his expulsion.
To them, the steps of concrete measures are more important than the form it takes. A sovereign state should not absorb a challenge unanswered or let a display of disrespect pass without a response.
South Africa’s position on the genocide case against Israel, its choice of international partners, and its domestic laws passed by a democratically elected Parliament will not change because Washington disapproves. The visa restrictions, tariffs, refugee programmes, and the grant to manufacture evidence of “hate speech” will not produce the surrender Washington seeks.
- The pressure has not been confined to South Africa.
- Across the SADC region, Washington has pressed states over access to resources and over their independent foreign policies.
- In Namibia, a petition launched by activist Michael Amushelelo on August 27, 2026, called on the government to declare US Ambassador John Giordano persona non grata and expel him from the country.
- It accuses Washington of using its embassy in Windhoek to pressure Namibian officials over access to the country’s newly discovered oil, uranium, and other critical minerals, and of intervening in domestic policy debates where US commercial interests are at stake.
- Amushelelo describes the campaign as “economic colonialism dressed up as friendship”.
The pressure has not been confined to South Africa. Across the SADC region, Washington has pressed states over access to resources and over their independent foreign policies.
In Namibia, a petition launched by activist Michael Amushelelo on August 27, 2026, called on the government to declare US Ambassador John Giordano persona non grata and expel him from the country. It accuses Washington of using its embassy in Windhoek to pressure Namibian officials over access to the country's newly discovered oil, uranium, and other critical minerals, and of intervening in domestic policy debates where US commercial interests are at stake. Amushelelo describes the campaign as "economic colonialism dressed up as friendship".
"Our oil is not American oil. Our uranium is not American uranium. Our minerals are not American minerals. They belong to the people of Namibia," he said.
On September 8, 2026, Ambassador Giordano was turned away from Namibia's National Fisheries Indaba in Walvis Bay after arriving without an official invitation. President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah was inside the hall at the time. Officials said no diplomats had been invited to the restricted domestic policy forum.
The exclusion of the US envoy from a domestic policy gathering signals that Windhoek is increasingly unwilling to grant Washington privileged access to forums where Namibian resources and economic policy are discussed.
Back in South Africa, tensions escalated further in 2026. In March 2026, Bozell told a business forum in the Western Cape that Washington was "running out of patience" with South Africa and issued what the Presidency characterised as "thinly veiled threats". He said he did not care what South Africa's courts said about the "Kill the Boer" chant, and claimed South Africa had more than 150 laws "aimed against whites".
Presidential spokesperson Vincent Magwenya responded: "It sounds like he's talking to a colony or a subsidiary of the US government. We're a sovereign country, and words like those are inflammatory".
Critics say the Americans have lost their bearings. Bozell has spent months issuing threats, interfering in South Africa's domestic affairs, and attacking the country's courts. Countries such as Zimbabwe have declared US diplomats persona non grata and expelled them when they overstepped.
South Africa has the same sovereign right under Article 9 of the Vienna Convention, as Namibia does, and should exercise it by declaring Bozell persona non grata and expelling him. What citizens are pressing for are reciprocal measures to be taken against Bozell and Washington’s representatives, whether through summons to the Department of International Relations and Cooperation, a formal note of protest, or his expulsion.
To them, the steps of concrete measures are more important than the form it takes. A sovereign state should not absorb a challenge unanswered or let a display of disrespect pass without a response.
South Africa's position on the genocide case against Israel, its choice of international partners, and its domestic laws passed by a democratically elected Parliament will not change because Washington disapproves. The visa restrictions, tariffs, refugee programmes, and the grant to manufacture evidence of "hate speech" will not produce the surrender Washington seeks.
