Newly-appointed South African envoy to the U.S., Mcebisi Jonas, reportedly has ties to Iran through MTN, a South African telecommunications company that Jonas chairs, and that has significant investments in Iran.
As Breitbart News has reported, Jonas disparaged President Donald Trump in 2020 as a “racist homophobe” and a “narcissistic right-winger” — a relevant background, given that former Ambassador Ebrahim Rasool was ejected from the country after describing Trump as the leader of a global white supremacist movement.
But there may be deeper problems. As Edward West wrote at South Africa’s Independent Online on Tuesday:
MTN is the only publicly invested group in South Africa with a significant investment in Iran, holding a 49% stake in the Irancell telecom operator, the second-largest mobile network operator in that country, which is 49% owned by MTN and 51% by Iran Electronic Development Company (IEDC).
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MTN’s history in Iran is further complicated. In December 2022, the High Court in South Africa dismissed a case brought by Turkcell against MTN, where the Turkish company claimed MTN had bribed an Iranian and a South African government official and had encouraged South Africa to support Iran’s nuclear development program at a meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to win the Iran telecoms contract.
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MTN divested its Middle Eastern markets such as Syria, Yemen, and Afghanistan in 2020, but has retained its investment in Iran. MTN’s reputation was also called into question this year when an investigation by Opensecrets.org.za claimed it was guilty of human rights violations for internet shutdowns in several conflict-affected countries, including Sudan, Afghanistan, Uganda, and Iran.
Jonas’s ties to Iran could become an obstacle to relations with the U.S., given that the Trump administration is currently pressuring Iran to agree to give up its nuclear program, or face possible attack as a consequence.
On the positive side, Jonas is regarded in South Africa as a rare voice against corruption. As deputy finance minister, he resisted attempts at bribery and later testified about how one family, the Guptas, managed to assume control of key appointments and contracts in former President Jacob Zuma’s administration for the benefit of their own transnational industrial empire — a scandal known in South Africa as “state capture.”
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days, available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
