International Relations Minister Ronald Lamola says US ambassador Leo Brent Bozell should get out of the kitchen if he no longer believes in diplomacy. Image credit Supplied
International Relations Minister Ronald Lamola has told US ambassador Leo Brent Bozell to get out of the kitchen if he no longer believes in talking to Pretoria. The Lamola Bozell kitchen remark marks a sharp escalation in the diplomatic row between South Africa and the United States.
Lamola spoke to reporters at OR Tambo International Airport on Saturday before he left for an African Union meeting in Egypt.
He responded to recent claims by Bozell that the time for talking was over. According to Lamola, talking is the very job of a diplomat. Therefore, he said, if an ambassador cannot hold dialogue, he should step aside.
Why the Lamola Bozell kitchen remark matters
This week, the Department of International Relations and Cooperation summoned Bozell for a formal demarche. It was the third such protest against him in the nine months since he arrived in South Africa in February.
A demarche is the strongest formal protest a government can make against a foreign envoy, short of declaring the person unwelcome in the country.
The latest summons followed a series of media interviews in which Bozell criticised the South African government. In those interviews, he said the United States was tired of discussions and had run out of patience with Pretoria. In addition, he met AfriForum in September, where he shared his frustration with the government.
Bozell has also drawn criticism over comments linked to the white genocide claim, which South Africa rejects. Just this week, South Africa’s ambassador to Washington, Roelf Meyer, told the BBC that white genocide does not exist.
Despite the risk of further tension with the Trump administration, Lamola defended his department’s actions. He said wrong conduct must be dealt with, no matter who is responsible for it.
The row comes as relations between the two countries remain under strain. Washington has excluded South Africa from this year’s G20 summit in Miami, and it continues to press Pretoria on a list of policy demands.
For now, the Lamola Bozell kitchen exchange shows little sign of easing tensions, as both sides hold firm on their positions.
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