He says Rasool was not supposed to talk negatively about the host country. He further stresses that the role of the ambassador is to represent the country and assist in addressing the differences between the countries involved, and strengthen relations.

Mbeki was addressing students at Unisa on Friday, discussing a range of global issues in Pretoria.

He says the host country can also reject an ambassador nominated by their country.

“The matter of ensuring that there are good relations is critically important as an ambassador. You are allowed what is a policy position. You can’t go around expressing negative opinions about your host. Ebrahim Rasool is an old friend of mine and a comrade but in this instance, he made a mistake. He said things about his host President. When I saw this I was not surprised because practically you make an assessment of your host president.”

Despite Rasool’s expulsion from the US, Mbeki says South Africa must continue to engage President Trump’s Administration.

Mbekisays SA should send a message that it is not looking for enemies, but is willing to work with all nations.

Mbeki says US behaviour is based on allegations that SA treats a minority group differently from the rest of the population.

“As a country, we must have a policy that says we are not looking for enemies. We must have a foreign policy that says we want friendly, mutually beneficial cooperation with everyone in the world. And even if we reach a bilateral agreement with country A, and don’t reach an agreement as a way of opposing another country, as a government, as a country, we need to make sure that we try to build good relations with the US, good relations with China and good relations with everybody.”

--SABC--