JOHANNESBURG - President Cyril Ramaphosa says he has the sole prerogative to appoint a new ambassador to the United States.
GNU partners like the DA are demanding to be consulted on who will replace Ebrahim Rasool.
Meanwhile, concerns are growing on the impact US funding cuts will have on healthcare programmes.
Ramaphosa was speaking at nursing union, Denosa's ninth Congress that's underway in Boksburg. Masikane
Donald Trump is putting our country at watch we believe he is going to do more.... just because the US has withdrawn funding"
Ramaphosa says the cuts are concerning.
"We have had discussions on the stoppage of funding it is a wake up call and it is entirely within their own right, it's their money and in many ways it's a wake up call on our part. As South Africans, we have got to find ways of being self-reliant."
He also touched on expelled ambassador to the US, Ebrahim Rasool.
"Our ambassador has come back home and obviously it behoves on us as government to mull over replacing the ambassador; we need to have top class representation in the US and that is something that we are still working on."
The South African Communist Party has applauded Rasool's return.
SACP General-secretary Solly Mapaila said, "He has earned himself a permanent badge of honour."
The national government has been criticised for it's lack of preparedness in the face of the funding cuts which could have a serious impact on HIV/AIDS programmes and derail critical medical research.