Dar es Salaam, March 25 -- SOUTH AFRICA: SOUTH AFRICA ‘s diplomat Ebrahim Rasool was welcomed as a hero in his home in Cape Town. But his departure marked an unusually big step in deteriorating ties between Washington and Pretoria.

The crowds that welcomed former South African Ambassador Ebrahim Rasool in Cape Town after his expulsion from the United States were so large that he needed a police escort. And Rasool seemed glad to be home.

“A declaration of persona non grata (a diplomat who is unwelcome and unaccepted) is meant to humiliate you. But when you return to crowds like this, and with warmth, then I will wear my persona non grata as a badge of dignity,” he said.

But despi...