JOHANNESBURG - Expelled US Ambassador Ebrahim Rasool has returned from his post in Washington DC.
Rasool touched down on home soil after the US declared him persona non grata for criticising President Donald Trump.
The question now is who should replace him as South Africa's ambassador to the United States?
What does this transition mean for our foreign policy and international relations?
Dr Oscar van Heerden discussed this with eNCA.
He commented on efforts to appease the Trump administration saying, "To try to meet the so-called criteria for [Donald] Trump, [Marco] Rubio, and [Elon] Musk coterie is going to be very difficult."
"They're going to immediately look to the past of the individual; whether it is a seasoned career diplomat, whether it is a seasoned former leader of the ANC, they're going to go into history."
"What has this person ever said about America? What has this person ever said or done about Israel and so and so forth. It's going to be a plethora of things before the candidate even arrives and I think instead of us obsessing with who is the right person and who could potentially be the person, the reality is, if Trump and Marco Rubio don't want that person, that person is not going to survive," he said.