With his business acumen and whistle-blower credibility, Mcebisi Jonas brings a pragmatic voice to South Africa’s renewed diplomatic efforts in Washington.
The appointment of former deputy finance minister Mcebisi Jonas as the special envoy to the United States is an interesting move by President Cyril Ramaphosa… but one which seems to be sensible at this fraught stage in Pretoria-Washington relations.
The very title of special envoy sends a signal that South Africa is playing softly-softly after its former ambassador, Ebrahim Rasool, undiplomatically shouted his mouth off publicly about Gaza.
The message to President Donald Trump is: Don’t worry, this guy is not a political appointee, he is a businessman and a realist who knows the lie of the land.
In addition, Jonas comes with the aura of being a whistle-blower – he was fired in 2017 after speaking out about state capture by the Gupta family and its associates during the presidency of Jacob Zuma.
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Jonas is currently independent nonexecutive chair of the MTN Group and was previously one of Ramaphosa’s presidential investment envoys.
He will continue in his role with MTN but will “lead negotiations, foster strategic partnerships and engage with US government officials and private-sector leaders to promote our nation’s interests”.
In other words he, like Trump, understands deal-making. And also when to keep his mouth shut.
Some may see this as kow-towing to the administration in the US, but with our minnow status in international affairs and trade, do we really have any choice?
Whether Jonas is going to calm that savage beast in the White House – and persuade him there is no white genocide or seizure of Afrikaner farms – is another matter entirely, given that Trump’s mind – and that of his right-hand-man, Elon Musk – seems to be made up.
How ironic, then, that, according to Musk’s father Errol, Ramaphosa wanted him to reach out to Elon to endorse the ANC.
The party’s principles are clearly malleable.
NOW READ: WATCH: Mbeki criticises Rasool over Trump remarks
