Leo Brent Bozell III sworn in as US Ambassador-Designate to SA


Leo Brent Bozell III has been sworn in as US Ambassador-Designate to South Africa.

The US Embassy shared an image of Bozell being sworn in by Republican US Senator Ted Cruz in Washington.

Bozell is expected to arrive in South Africa later this month.

The US Embassy said in a post on X that it looked forward to working under Ambassador Bozell’s leadership to advance American priorities and promote a safer, stronger, and more prosperous America through continued engagement with South Africa.

He will formally assume his duties following the presentation of his credentials to President Cyril Ramaphosa but the exact timeline for that remains unclear.

He was confirmed by the US Senate in December in a bloc vote of 97 nominees along party lines, all Democrats voting against confirmation.

Ambassador Bozell promised in his October confirmation hearing to communicate Washington’s objections to what he called South Africa’s “Geo strategic drift from non-alignment”.