Instead, Ramaphosa pinned his hopes on a special envoy who, he said at the time of Jonas's appointment, would "lead negotiations, foster strategic partnerships and engage with US government officials and private-sector leaders to promote our nation's interests". But it is unclear how Ramaphosa expected Jonas to achieve this given that he, like Rasool, had made controversial remarks about Trump, calling him a "racist" and a "narcissistic right-winger" in a 2020 speech that came back to haunt him after his appointment. This was compounded by the fact that MTN had a 49% stake in Iran's telecom company IranCell, a major concern for the US. Compared to its previous stances, South Africa was "more circumspect" - as Mr Singh put it - in its response to US air strikes on Iran in June, merely saying that it viewed the conflict with "great anxiety" and hoped that it could be resolved through dialogue. W Gyude Moore, a policy analyst at the US-based Center for Global Development, told the BBC that it was not surprising that South Africa was in Trump's firing line. He pointed out that South Africa championed what Trump's support-base saw as "woke culture". For instance, Ramaphosa regarded the G20 as a forum through which to promote international "solidarity, equality and sustainability", which Rubio had opposed, equating it to "diversity, equity and inclusion", as well as climate change. Mr Moore said this was also borne out in the Trump's administration's attitude towards South Africa's "black empowerment" policy, accusing it of "race-based discrimination" against white people. Ramaphosa's government sees it as necessary to address the legacy of the racist system of apartheid. "I cannot see how the differences can be resolved. South Africa will just have to carry on, and strengthen ties with other countries. It's not the only one in the crosshairs of the Trump administration," Mr Moore added. But it is a major blow to South Africa, as it had maintained strong trade and aid relations with successive Republican and Democratic administrations despite having sharp differences with them.