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[File photo] Mcebisi Jonas
The Presidency says it is concerned about the Democratic Alliance’s (DA) persistent campaign against South Africa’s national interest and its posture of trying to embarrass the country since the appointment of Mcebisi Jonas as the Presidential special envoy in the United States (US).
They have cautioned the DA after it claimed that the US rejected Jonas’s credentials and he is unable to perform his role.
The Presidency says special envoys do not need to present diplomatic credentials to host countries in the way designated heads of mission or other diplomats are.
It says the opposition party is seeking to sensationalise the issue in view of America’s pending trade tariffs announced by US President Donald Trump.
The Presidency says Jonas’s outreach does not in any way supersede the leading role of the Departments of Trade, Industry and Competition, and International Relations and Cooperation in the difficult but constructive trade negotiations with the US.
The department adds that the DA has positioned itself as part of a right-wing nexus that wants to use a foreign state to effect changes to democratically developed national policies in South Africa.
The Presidency condemns the Democratic Alliance’s harassment of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Special Envoy to North America, Mr Jonas Mcebisi
— The Presidency 🇿🇦 (@PresidencyZA) July 15, 2025
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