THE Freedom Front Plus says President Cyril Ramaphosa would once again be turning his back on the spirit of cooperation in the Government of National Unity (GNU) in not consulting with GNU partners to appoint a new ambassador to replace Ebrahim Rasool.

This comes after Ramaphosa’s comments on the sidelines of the Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa (DENOSA) in Boksburg yesterday when he was asked about whether he will consult the GNU partners.

Ramaphosa said: "The president appoints ambassadors and it is within his role right to appoint them".

Ramaphosa said he was taking his time to decide because the US was the country's second-largest trading partner.

Freedom Front Plus leader Corné Mulder said it appeared Ramaphosa has resorted to the letter of the Constitution in a bid to appoint a new ambassador.

“Technically speaking, and in terms of the South African Constitution, the President is right about having the authority to appoint, among others, ambassadors.

“Section 84(2)(i) of the Constitution determines that the President, in terms of his powers and functions, is responsible for "appointing ambassadors, plenipotentiaries, and diplomatic and consular representatives".

Mulder said the party recognises the President's constitutional right in this regard, however, the Constitution does not have a provision stipulating that foreign policy is the prerogative of a single party.

“The Freedom Front Plus wants to reiterate that the ANC is not the sole determiner of South Africa's policy on international relations. So far, the ANC has only managed to turn South Africa into an international outcast with its warped policy.

“This is a conversation to be had in the GNU, and policy on international relations should be determined through discussions and consensus in the GNU. And then the President is free to appoint whomever he wants within that agreed upon framework. This will ensure that appointments carry the political clout of an entire Government of National Unity and not just that of a single party. In this way, the spirit of cooperation in government will be embodied as it ought to be.”

In Boksburg, Ramaphosa indicated he is still trying to find a "top-notch" candidate to be the country's next ambassador to the US.

"With regards to the US, our ambassador has come back home, obviously it's up to us as a government to work on replacing our ambassador.

"The US is the second largest trading partner to SA, so therefore, we need to have top-class representation in the US and that is something that we are working on," Ramaphosa said.

It is unclear when the new ambassador will be named.

*Additional reporting Kamogelo Moichela

Cape Times