The South African government has appointed seasoned diplomat Roelf Meyer, who helped negotiate the end of white minority rule in his country in the 1990s, as the next ambassador to the United States. According to local media reports, this appointment is seen as a sign that Pretoria aims to improve its relations with Washington following what has been described as a “turbulent year” in bilateral ties.
South Africa has been without diplomatic representation in Washington, DC, since March 2025, when US President Donald Trump expelled Ambassador Ebrahim Rasool for his criticism of the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio allegedly accused Rasool at the time on social media of being a “race-baiting politician” who hates the US and Trump, linking to a report by conservative news site Breitbart.
The Trump administration last year also issued an executive order freezing most foreign assistance to South Africa amid the country’s legal action at the International Court of Justice over Israel’s actions in Gaza and the passage of a controversial South African law aimed at correcting historic racial disparities in land ownership. Tensions escalated further when Trump then launched a refugee program for white South Africans, whom the US president purportedly claims face government-led persecution in their home country.
Meyer, 78, is a veteran negotiator with experience working under pressure. As a member of South Africa’s white Afrikaans minority, he once served as a minister under the apartheid Nationalist Party government. He rose to prominence in the 1990s, during the final days of apartheid, as the Nationalist Party held talks with the African National Congress (ANC) to end segregation and white minority rule, paving the way for South Africa’s first democratic elections in 1994.
As the chief negotiator, Meyer became acquainted with South Africa’s current president, Cyril Ramaphosa, who was then an ANC negotiator. Meyer himself later joined the ANC in 2006. He is set to take up the post as US ambassador once all protocols are complete in Washington, DC, according to Ramaphosa’s office.
Source: www.aljazeera.com