South African Ambassador Ebrahim Rasool returned home to a hero’s welcome Sunday after being expelled from Washington. Secretary of State Marco Rubio recently declared Rasool to be “persona non grata” in the latest move taken by the Trump administration against South Africa. Speaking in Cape Town on Sunday, Rasool criticized the Trump administration for cutting off aid to South Africa.

Ebrahim Rasool: “We have tried to engage. We have been met with executive orders that cut our aid, cut PEPFAR, and now we sit with the idea that millions could be reinfected with HIV and AIDS. The research for the vaccine may not be one that could be completed. Those are the dangerous things that are happening and why we must mend our relationship or sit out the next four years.”

Ambassador Rasool has also said South Africa will resist pressure from the U.S. and other nations to drop its genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice.