JOHANNESBURG - There’s no thaw in the frosty ties between South Africa and the United States.
If anything, relations have hit a new low.
And the diplomatic cold front is only intensifying.
Earlier on Sunday, US Ambassador Leo Bozell accused International Relations Minister Ronald Lamola of personally insulting him.
Bozell's accusation comes via a post on the social media platform X.
He was responding to a Sunday Times article quoting Lamola saying 'if Bozell is tired of talking, he should get out of the kitchen'.
In the same article, Lamola also accused Bozell of undiplomatic conduct.
All this unfolds just days after Lamola’s office confirmed issuing Bozell his third demarche since taking up the post earlier this year.
A demarche is diplomatic-speak for a formal slap on the wrist, short of kicking an ambassador out.
How Pretoria responds to Bozell’s latest jab remains to be seen.