Roelf Meyer, former South African politician and Cabinet Minister of the National Party who acted as negotiator in the transition to South Africa’s democracy. (Photo: Supplied) By Nellie Peyton
"I can confirm that President Cyril Ramaphosa has appointed Mr Roelf Meyer as South Africa's Ambassador to the U.S.," Ramaphosa's spokesperson Vincent Magwenya told Reuters on Tuesday.
South Africa has not had an ambassador in Washington since its last one, Ebrahim Rasool, was expelled last year after angering the Trump administration.
Meyer, 78, was the chief representative of the white minority National Party government during 1993 talks to end apartheid. Ramaphosa was the chief negotiator for the African National Congress, the liberation movement at the time.
Meyer later served as a minister in the multi-party government led by Nelson Mandela.
(Additional reporting by Nilutpal Timsina and Tim Cocks;Editing by Alexander Winning and Tim Cocks)