The US Embassy in South Africa on Friday confirmed that Leo Brent Bozell III has been sworn in as the United States ambassador-designate to South Africa.
In a statement shared on Facebook, the embassy said it looks forward to working under Bozell’s leadership to advance American priorities and promote “a safer, stronger, and more prosperous America” through continued engagement with South Africa.
“The US Embassy looks forward to working under his 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 the Government of South Africa,” the embassy stated.
The next part of Bozell’s diplomatic journey would be to fly to South Africa, where he will officially present his Letters of Credence to President Cyril Ramaphosa and the government of South Africa, in line with diplomatic protocol.
Until that process is completed, Bozell remains ambassador-designate and cannot perform official acts or formally represent the United States government in South Africa.
Bozell’s swearing-in follows his confirmation by the US Senate in December, at a time of heightened diplomatic tensions between Washington and Pretoria.
In December, reported that the United States Senate had formally confirmed Bozell as the US ambassador-designate to South Africa.
While Bozell now holds the title of ambassador-designate, he will enter the diplomatic mission in South Africa, recently engulfed in a diplomatic firestorm following the raid at a US “refugee” facility in Johannesburg and the deportation of Kenyan staff from the centre — incidents Washington has labelled as “unacceptable harassment”.
Mandate for Confrontation
In October, reported that Bozell had issued a warning that Washington believes Pretoria is moving closer to China and promised to stop what he called South Africa’s “geostrategic drift” in the direction of America’s international rivals.
At the time, Bozell promised to “communicate our objections to South Africa’s geostrategic drift from non-alignment toward our competitors, including Russia, China, and Iran” if appointed as Washington’s top diplomat in Pretoria during his appearance before the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
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