South Africa appoints Mcebisi Jonas as special US envoy in bid to ease tensions

The South African presidency announced Monday the appointment of Mcebisi Jonas as "Special Envoy to the United States of America, serving as the official representative of the President and the government of the Republic of South Africa."

Mcebisi Jonas is former deputy finance minister and also served as investment envoy in 2018.

In 2016, he accused the government of Jacob Zuma, back then president of South Africa, of corruption, saying that the Gupta family had offered to bribe him for the position of finance minister.

The move to appoint him as special envoy to the US comes as relations between Washington and Pretoria are at their lowest point in years.

The situation rapidly deteriorated earlier this year when US president Donald Trump cut off US foreign assistance to South Africa.

And in late March, South African ambassador to the US Ebrahim Rasool was declared a persona non grata and expelled from American territory over critical remarks he made on the subject of the Trump administration.

In his statement announcing the appointment of the special US envoy, president Ramaphosa however noted that he remained "committed to rebuilding and maintaining" the relationship with Washington.

"Mr Jonas is entrusted with the responsibility to advance South Africa's diplomatic, trade and bilateral priorities", noted the presidency.