Is US Ambassador Marks heading home?

Lana Marks, the United States (US) ambassador to South Africa and a close friend of US President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump, may soon be packing her designer bags to head for home in Palm Springs, Florida.

The diplomatic future of the South African-born couture handbag designer hangs in the balance as President Trump, who nominated her, continues to refuse to concede defeat in last week’s US presidential elections. She arrived at her post in Pretoria barely a year before the end of Trump’s first term of office. Now with Trump’s hope of a second term of office seemingly dashed, it’s uncertain what lies ahead for the businesswoman.

It’s practice for the White House to direct all US ambassadors who are political appointees to resign their posts, and for them to do so when the administration changes in Washington. Ambassadors who are career members of the US foreign service – a large percentage of envoys – are generally not asked to offer their resignations.

Marks was unanimously confirmed by the US Senate on 26 September 2019. She was sworn into office on 4 October 2019, and arrived at her posting on 9 November 2019, presenting her diplomatic credentials to President Cyril Ramaphosa on 28 January 2020.

It has been a tumultuous year for Marks, who from the outset endeavoured to deepen trade and investment ties and strengthen the relationship between South Africa and the US.

She hit the ground running as soon as she arrived only to face the onset of a worldwide pandemic and threats to her life after revelations of an alleged Iran-backed plot to assassinate her.

In response to a request for an interview with the ambassador this week, Robert Mearkle, information officer and spokesperson at the US Embassy in Pretoria, told the SA Jewish Report, “We’ll have to politely decline the request at this time.”

Requests for comment during the elections were also declined.

“We aren’t having an event for elections due to our continued telework and COVID-19 gathering restrictions. Also, the ambassador isn’t doing media engagements this week,” Mearkle said.

According to a 2016 article in Voice of America, then President-elect Donald Trump’s transition staff issued a blanket order, distributed as a diplomatic cable by the state department, ordering all political appointees to leave their overseas posts by his inauguration.

In most cases, US embassies typically have a second diplomat, known as the deputy chief of mission, who takes over as chargé d’affaires – in essence, an acting ambassador. Diplomacy can then continue and the work of the embassy carries on.

Mearkle declined to comment on the protocols.

Marks, who was born and raised in East London, was Trump’s nominee to serve as the ambassador to South Africa having no experience in diplomacy. She was nominated for the position in 2016, but formally nominated only in 2018. Her confirmation in 2019 ended a gap in the position in South Africa, which had been open since Patrick Gaspard vacated his post in December 2016, with the mission being overseen by a chargé d’affaires.

Marks, who left South Africa about 40 years ago, is best known for her company, Lana Marks Collections, which produces five and six-figure exotic leather handbags worn by red-carpet celebrities like Benoni-born Charlize Theron, and for her friendship with the late Diana, Princess of Wales. It’s unknown what she will be doing in the coming months.

Meanwhile, Trump has tweeted that he will ultimately win the election he has been projected to lose. None of the state-by-state results have yet been certified, several vote counts are continuing, and the outcome will be set in stone only once the US Electoral College meets on 14 December. Joe Biden is preparing to assume office.