JOHANNESBURG - Ebrahim Rasool, South Africa's expelled ambassador, has been given 72 hours to leave the United States.

Chrispin Phiri, spokesperson for the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO), confirmed to local media News24 on Saturday that they have received official confirmation from the South African mission in the US late on Friday night that Rasool had been expelled, and arrangements have been made for his return.

Phiri said Rasool will debrief Pretoria once in South Africa. "From there, Pretoria will assess what are the next steps that need to be done and attend to it," he added.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio declared Rasool "persona non grata" on the social media platform X on Friday, following an earlier address by the South African ambassador in which he criticized US President Donald Trump.

According to a statement issued on Saturday by the South African Presidency, it has noted the regrettable expulsion of the ambassador and urged all relevant and impacted stakeholders to maintain the established diplomatic decorum in their engagement with the matter.