President Cyril Ramaphosa has chosen Roelf Meyer as South Africa’s new ambassador to the US.
The 78-year-old was the chief negotiator for the apartheid-era National Party and served as Apartheid’s last defence minister before South Africa’s transition to democracy. He also served as a minister in Mandela’s government and was one of the founders of the United Democratic Movement (UDM).
South Africa has not had an ambassador in Washington since the expulsion of Ebrahim Rasool in March 2025 by the Trump administration.
Business Leadership South Africa praised Meyer’s negotiation skills and experience. They said he is the “right adult in the room” to stabilise relations with Washington.
Ramaphosa called Meyer “more than qualified as well as “loyal and patriotic”. His past as a National Party leader and apartheid-era negotiator has led critics to raise concerns about appointing a white Afrikaner to such a key role in current geopolitics.
