The United States has warned that its patience with South Africa is “running out” as bilateral ties fray over a string of unresolved demands, the U.S. ambassador-designate to Pretoria said this week.
“As I’ve made clear in meetings I’ve had, the U.S. is running out of patience,” Ambassador‑designate Leo Brent Bozell III told reporters, saying Washington has been waiting “for almost a year” for replies to five specific requests. “We believe more and more it becomes a statement by the South African government when it doesn’t want to respond to simple questions we have.”
Bozell said the outstanding U.S. requests range from domestic to foreign‑policy issues, including a demand that Pretoria condemn the contentious “Kill the Boer” chant, reconsider aspects of its expropriation and black economic‑empowerment policies, give greater priority to farm‑safety concerns, adopt a clearer non‑aligned posture, and drop a legal case against Israel at the International Court of Justice. Media reports have also suggested the U.S. wants South Africa to reconsider its membership of the BRICS grouping, Bozell added.
The ambassador‑designate repeatedly framed the U.S. position as one of principle and urgency. “I’m sorry, I don’t care what your courts say. It’s hate speech,” he said of the “Kill the Boer” chant, a slogan rooted in anti‑apartheid resistance that has resurfaced at some contemporary political rallies and remains highly controversial. He also urged South Africa’s private sector to speak publicly about the impact of government policy: “I don’t want to hear businesses say one thing publicly and another thing privately… There has to be that kind of outspokenness.”
Tensions have been exacerbated, Bozell said, by what Washington interprets as public slights against the United States and moves by Pretoria that appear to align it with U.S. adversaries. He singled out South Africa’s messages of condolence following the killing of an Iranian leader in strikes attributed to U.S. and Israeli forces, and recent public criticism of the U.S. by South African officials. “Insulting our president on the eve of coming to our country is not a good sign,” he said.
Under President Donald Trump’s second term, bilateral relations have experienced recurring disputes, including tariff actions and trade friction, and U.S. officials have signalled that continued silence from Pretoria could invite further consequences. Bozell warned that the situation had reached “perhaps an existential moment that none of us wanted,” adding that “things were going very well, but things have gone off course.”
The “Kill the Boer” chant dates to the anti‑apartheid era and is derived from the Zulu phrase Dubul’ ibhunu, literally “shoot the Boer” or “kill the farmer.” In contemporary South Africa, the slogan is contested: supporters argue it is a liberation chant tied to historic struggle against racial oppression, while critics and some foreign governments label it hate speech. The term “Boer” historically referred to Afrikaner farmers and is associated with the white minority that governed under apartheid.
South African political figures such as Julius Malema, leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters, have been accused of reviving the chant at political gatherings, a development that has alarmed domestic and international observers. The U.S. demand that Pretoria condemn the chant underscores Washington’s concern about rhetoric it views as inciting violence.
On economic matters, Bozell criticised what he characterised as burdensome elements of South Africa’s economic‑transformation framework, including broad‑based black economic empowerment (BBBEE) measures and proposed expropriation policies, and called for clearer assurances that business can operate without fear of retribution for speaking out.
The U.S. also objects to South Africa’s decision to pursue legal action against Israel at the International Court of Justice and to Pretoria’s engagement with the BRICS grouping — a five‑nation bloc that includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Those moves, U.S. officials say, complicate longstanding cooperation between Washington and Pretoria on trade, security and regional issues.
The South African government did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Officials in Pretoria have previously defended the country’s sovereign right to determine foreign policy positions and to pursue accountability through international legal channels.
Diplomats and analysts say the U.S. ultimatum-like posture marks a higher degree of public pressure than previous private diplomacy, and could make it harder for both sides to de‑escalate. How Pretoria responds in the coming weeks — whether by formally replying to the U.S. asks or by standing firm — is likely to shape the trajectory of relations between the two countries, observers said.
