President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa has appointed a new ambassador to the United States, filling a position that had been vacant since March 2025, when the country’s former ambassador was expelled by the Trump administration.
Mr. Ramaphosa’s spokesman said on Wednesday that Roelf Meyer, a former member of the National Party, which introduced apartheid in South Africa in 1948, had been chosen to serve in Washington.
Mr. Meyer, 78, is regarded as one of the architects of the nation’s democratic transition, alongside Mr. Ramaphosa. He was a chief negotiator representing the country’s white minority rulers during the talks that led to the end of apartheid. Mr. Ramaphosa was the African National Congress’s chief negotiator in the talks, representing the nation’s Black majority.
Mr. Meyer’s appointment comes at a particularly difficult time for the two countries. He is of Afrikaner descent, a member of the white ethnic minority that has been central to President Trump’s tough foreign policy toward South Africa.
Mr. Trump has claimed that the South African government was persecuting Afrikaner farmers and seizing their land. Last year, the group was granted refugee status in the United States.
Mr. Meyer replaces Ebrahim Rasool, who was declared persona non grata by the Trump administration last year after he accused Mr. Trump of leading a “white supremacist” movement in America and around the world.
Mr. Meyer was minister of defense from 1991 to 1992 under the white minority government. After apartheid, he served in Nelson Mandela’s first unity government cabinet as constitutional development minister from 1994 to 1996. He later joined the African National Congress and retired from frontline politics in 2000.
On Wednesday, Mr. Ramaphosa praised Mr. Meyer as a loyal and patriotic citizen who is more than qualified to navigate the country’s rocky relationship with the United States. His appointment, however, has drawn criticism from some politicians and activists.
Kallie Kriel of the conservative Afrikaner group AfriForum said that South Africa needs a “principled ambassador” capable of engaging the United States in the country’s best interests, not another “A.N.C.-aligned deployment.” Mr. Kriel cited Mr. Meyer’s political shift at the end of apartheid, when he joined the A.N.C., as evidence of a lack of loyalty and resolve.
The Economic Freedom Fighters, a far-left political party in the South African Parliament, also rejected the appointment. In a statement, the party said Mr. Ramaphosa was attempting to appease “white power structures” in the United States by selecting a figure who he thought would be more acceptable to Trump officials in Washington.
Mr. Ramaphosa’s office said the appointment was effective immediately and that Mr. Meyer would be deployed as soon all administrative protocols in Washington had been completed.
Source:
www.nytimes.com
