Following US President Donald Trump’s nomination of Leo Brent Bozell III as Ambassador to South Africa amid tensions between the two countries, some analysts view this swift appointment as a sign that the Trump administration is ready to engage with South Africa.

Local political analyst Sandile Swana on Wednesday described Bozell as someone who would be on the ground to “challenge South Africa” on policies the US administration opposes.

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“The speed of this appointment, coming right after former Ambassador to the United States Ebrahim Rasool’s expulsion, sends a message to South Africa that the US wants to engage with us. However, when the Americans negotiate, they do so while throwing punches at the same time,” he said.

This nomination has been notably quick compared to Trump’s previous appointment of an Ambassador to South Africa. Trump took office in January 2017 but only nominated Lana Marks in November 2018, with her official confirmation coming in September 2019.

Since January, tensions between the United States and South Africa have escalated. This has resulted in US officials skipping G20 meetings in South Africa and the expulsion of South Africa’s Ambassador to the United States.

Swana said there were several issues that the United States wanted to engage South Africa on. “South Africa currently has two cases in progress, one of them being the genocide case against Israel, and it has made favourable progress. My estimation is that the Americans do not want that case to reach a judgment. Even with the prima facie ruling, they have already lost the moral high ground,” he said.

Bozell III has no diplomatic experience and is primarily known as a conservative writer and media critic, Xinhua news agency reported. On Monday, the White House formally submitted his nomination to the US Senate for approval.

Patrick Lukusa Kadima, an expert in international law, global geopolitics, international cooperation, and multilateralism at Wits University, told Xinhua that he did not believe the nominated Ambassador would be effective in defusing tensions between the two countries.

“I think the appointment of Leo Brent Bozell III was expected, given that he is publicly known as a conservative and has been pretty much involved in the conservative movement. Such an individual might not be a good choice to defuse the tensions between the two countries,” he said.

Kadima said this nomination would not lead to improvements in relations between South Africa and the United States. “I don’t think his appointment will improve the relations between the two countries. We are dealing with a well-known conservative and media critic here. I don’t think it helps anyone. It is a difficult terrain to navigate for Pretoria,” he added.

John Stremlau, a visiting professor of international relations at Wits University, shared Swana’s sentiments on the swiftness of the nomination.

“It was quite fast compared to the previous appointment. They have chosen someone who is a pro-Zionist in the Middle East, while South Africa is strongly committed to Palestinian self-determination,” he told Xinhua.

Speaking to the media on Tuesday, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said there would be no rush in replacing the recently expelled ambassador to the United States.