South African ambassador Ebrahim Rasool, expelled from the US and declared persona non grata by the Trump administration, returned to his home.
According to CNN, Ebrahim, who returned to his home on Sunday, March 23, 2025, received a warm and heroic welcome after hundreds of people gathered at the airport and sang praising songs for him.
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As the ambassador, along with his wife Rosieda, entered the arrivals terminal of the Cape Town International Airport, they were surrounded by the crowd and required police escort help to get out of the airport.
Rasool told the supporters, “A declaration of persona non grata is meant to humiliate you. But when you return to crowds like this, and with warmth… like this, then I will wear my persona non grata as a badge of dignity. It was not our choice to come home, but we come home with no regrets.”
During his address with the megaphone, he added, “We don’t come here to say we are anti-American. We are not here to call on you to throw away our interests with the United States.”
For the unversed, US President Donald Trump in February issued an executive order to cut all funding to South Africa and accused the country of supporting Hamas, Iran and anti-white policies.
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