South Africa: US Ambassador Bozell Demarched for Third Time in Nine Months Over ‘Undiplomatic Conduct’
South Africa · Diplomacy · United States
Key Facts
—Third démarche. South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) formally demarched US ambassador Leo Brent Bozell III on Tuesday — the third such protest since he took up his post nine months ago.
—The trigger. A series of media interviews in which Bozell accused the South African government of “actively rejecting” a constructive relationship with Washington; DIRCO describes his conduct as “undiplomatic”.
—Visa pressure. The protest comes a fortnight after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced targeted visa restrictions on South African officials linked to uncompensated land seizures and race-based discrimination.
—A pattern. Bozell was first demarched in March over “Kill the Boer” and BEE remarks, and was publicly rebuked again in June after accusing Pretoria of courting America’s adversaries.
—Channel open. Both governments say they remain committed to resolving outstanding bilateral issues; South Africa’s own embassy in Washington has been without an ambassador since March 2025.
South Africa has formally protested against Washington’s ambassador for the third time in nine months — a tempo of diplomatic rebuke with few precedents between two countries that still call each other partners.
The Third Rebuke
A senior DIRCO official confirmed on Tuesday evening that Ambassador Bozell had been demarched and called in to explain what the department described as “undiplomatic conduct”. The démarche — a formal written protest and one of the sharpest tools short of declaring an envoy persona non grata — follows a blitz of media interviews in which the ambassador accused Pretoria of refusing to engage with Washington’s core policy requests. In one recent opinion piece, Bozell wrote that US patience had worn thin after nine months of what he called “formal silence” from the South African government on three central demands. A US government official confirmed Bozell had been “called in” over the fraught bilateral relationship, adding that both countries remained committed to resolving their outstanding issues.
The timing is not accidental. On 15 September, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced targeted visa restrictions against South African officials deemed responsible for enabling uncompensated land seizures, race-based discrimination, or the incitement of violence against minority groups — the most concrete punitive step Washington has taken since Donald Trump returned to office. Pretoria has rejected the premises of those measures, just as it has rejected Trump’s repeated claims that white South Africans face persecution.
Nine Months of Friction
Bozell, a conservative media critic and founder of the Media Research Center, was nominated by Trump in March 2025 and confirmed by the Senate in December. He arrived in Pretoria in February 2026 and presented his credentials to President Cyril Ramaphosa in April. Ramaphosa used that very ceremony to remind the new envoys that diplomats should respect host-country sovereignty and raise concerns through constructive channels rather than public confrontation.
The first démarche followed within weeks of his arrival. At a business conference in Hermanus in March, Bozell declared the struggle song “Kill the Boer” to be hate speech and added that he “didn’t care” what South Africa’s courts had ruled on the matter — remarks that drew formal protests from two parliamentary committees and a summons from DIRCO director-general Zane Dangor. The US mission subsequently issued a public apology, and Bozell expressed regret that his comments had detracted from constructive work. In June, DIRCO publicly rebuked him again after he used social media to accuse South Africa of courting America’s adversaries when Pretoria hosted Iran’s deputy foreign minister in the same week that Deputy President Paul Mashatile visited Beijing; the ministry replied that non-alignment must not be mistaken for neutrality, and noted the contradiction of being criticised for engaging states with which the United States itself interacts.
A Relationship Running on One Engine
The ambassadorial channel is, pointedly, only half-staffed. South Africa has had no ambassador in Washington since March 2025, when Ebrahim Rasool was expelled after describing Trump supporters as part of a “supremacist movement”. No replacement has been named, leaving Bozell as the only serving ambassador between two countries with US$15 billion in annual trade and deep links in critical minerals. The wider agenda remains loaded: South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice, its ties with Russia and China, US tariffs on South African exports and the suspension of most US aid have all piled up unresolved.
International relations minister Ronald Lamola has consistently framed the relationship as important but rules-based: open engagement is welcome, he said after the March episode, but diplomats must observe proper international conduct. After Tuesday’s démarche, both capitals struck the same careful note — the protest was delivered, the channel stays open, and the language of commitment to resolving differences was maintained on both sides.
What Comes Next
A third démarche raises the practical question of what a fourth would mean. Declaring an ambassador persona non grata is the recognised next rung on the escalation ladder, but it would almost certainly trigger reciprocation against South African diplomats and further endanger trade preferences already under review in Washington. For now, the expectation in Pretoria is that Bozell tempers his public messaging; the expectation in Washington is that South Africa formally answers its three policy requests. Neither side showed signs of movement on Tuesday night.
What We Could Not Confirm
DIRCO has not published the text of the démarche or identified the specific interviews that triggered it, and the precise content of Washington’s three core policy requests has not been officially detailed. The names and number of South African officials covered by the 15 September visa restrictions have not been released. Accounts differ on the formal count of protests — some outlets describe Tuesday’s as the second démarche of this year; the “third in nine months” figure comes from the senior DIRCO official cited by SABC and Reuters. Whether the ANC has lifted its refusal to meet Bozell could not be verified.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did South Africa demarche US ambassador Bozell?
DIRCO formally protested on 29 September 2026 after a series of media interviews in which Bozell accused the South African government of actively rejecting a constructive relationship with Washington — conduct the department called undiplomatic. It is the third démarche since he took up his post nine months ago.
Who is Leo Brent Bozell III?
A conservative media critic and founder of the Media Research Center, nominated as US ambassador to South Africa by Donald Trump in March 2025 and confirmed by the Senate in December 2025. He presented his credentials to President Ramaphosa in April 2026.
What is a démarche in diplomacy?
A démarche is a formal written protest delivered by one government to another through the embassy channel. It is one of the strongest expressions of displeasure available before expelling a diplomat, and it is typically followed by a meeting in which the envoy is called in to explain the conduct in question.
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What could not be confirmed about South Africa Demarche Bozell US Ambassador?
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DIRCO has not published the text of the démarche or identified the specific interviews that triggered it, and the precise content of Washington's three core policy requests has not been officially detailed. The names and number of South African officials covered by the 15 September visa restrictions have not been released.
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Sources: SABC; News24; Reuters; Fullview; BusinessTech; Parliament of South Africa.
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