Roelf Meyer, a key figure in SA’s transition from apartheid, has been appointed as the new ambassador to the US, a move welcomed by many but criticised by Afrikaner groups. (Photo: Felix Dlangamandla / Netwerk24) The Presidency has confirmed that President Cyril Ramaphosa has chosen Roelf Meyer – with whom he negotiated SA’s democratic dispensation – to fill the hot seat in Washington.
Officials told Daily Maverick that Meyer would leave for the United States (US) “as soon as formalities can be done. Training, clearances and agreement from the US.”
Diplomats do not expect any objection from the US to Meyer.
“I’m sure he will be welcomed,” one told Daily Maverick.
Most parties in the Government of National Unity (GNU) and others seem pleased with the choice, and believe Meyer’s vast negotiation experience will help him fix the damaged relationship with the Trump administration.
But Afrikaner parties and groups, which have lobbied the administration on issues like black economic empowerment and farm murders, expressed concern that Meyer, despite being Afrikaans, would not properly champion their interests.
As minister of constitutional development in the National Party, Meyer, 78, played a major role alongside the ANC’s then chief negotiator, Ramaphosa, in negotiating SA away from apartheid to the current constitutional democracy.
Since then, mainly through his NGO, In Transformation Initiative, Meyer has applied the negotiation skills he learnt at SA’s Codesa to try to resolve conflicts all over the world.
‘He is a patriot’
The ANC’s secretary-general, Fikile Mbalula, seemed pleased with Meyer’s appointment, posting on X that it was a “good and tactically sound” move.
“Racist AfriForum are not happy that an Afrikaner will now dispel the lie that there is a white genocide in SA,” he said.
/file/attachments/orphans/ED_569343_794462.jpg "President Cyril Ramaphosa and Roelf Meyer during day 1 of the First National Convention of the National Dialogue of South Africa at Unisa, Pretoria Main Campus, on 15 August 2025. (Photo: Gallo Images / Frennie Shivambu)")
A diplomat had earlier told Daily Maverick that Meyer was well suited for the job because: “He has the networks in both parties in DC to engage with on the key issues of concern. He is 100% on board with a rights-based foreign policy, including our approach on Palestine.
“He will use his skills and experience to promote our values and interests without selling out our principles.”
DA international relations spokesperson Ryan Smith said Meyer was a “good pick” for the role, given the “need for skilled diplomacy” to repair the strained relationship between SA and the US.
“As a veteran politician and negotiator whose experience has successfully straddled some of the most difficult periods in South African history, both pre and post apartheid, Roelf Meyer is a good pick for South African Ambassador to the USA,” said Smith.
“However, Mr Meyer’s success can and will only be gauged on his ability to break through several diplomatic impasses that still exist in Washington under the Trump administration.”
Smith said Meyer’s primary objective should be the quick repair of SA’s trade relationship with the US, “giving assurances to the Trump administration that we remain a consistent and dependable trading partner”.
He added that Meyer would also need to reassure the US that SA “remains part of the world’s liberal democratic order”.
“He will struggle to do this for as long as the ANC continues to antagonise the USA in its public support for Iran and its Islamic regime, as well as its increasing proximity to Russia. It is critical to have a capable envoy to the USA, but this must also be complemented by SA recommitting itself to non-alignment and upholding our constitutional values if we want to win back trust and credibility,” he said.
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/davis_interviewRoelfMeyer.jpg "Roelf Meyer during the 3rd Land Reform Imbizo on 26 February 2015 in Johannesburg, South Africa. (Photo: Gallo Images / Foto24 / Denzil Maregele)")
UDM leader Bantu Holomisa told Daily Maverick that Meyer’s experience in mediation in conflicts throughout the world qualified him for the role.
“Roelf Meyer is a patriot… He is a good listener. He has been a progressive individual who embraced the change in SA since the early 90s. I congratulate him,” he said.
He said Meyer should promote the resuscitation of the Bi-National Commission “on the same scale as the Al Gore-Thabo Mbeki Commission”.
This commission was launched by presidents Nelson Mandela and Bill Clinton in 1995, with their deputies as co-chairs, to boost relations. But it was gradually allowed to fade.
Good Secretary-General Brett Herron said Ramaphosa’s decision to send an Afrikaner with apartheid-era government credentials to Washington was “a rather clever act of appeasement” to the Trump administration’s bullying.
“Mr Meyer’s record as a negotiator of SA’s political settlement and new Constitution provide him with a very solid platform from which to counter the lies about white genocide. Having said that, standing up for the South African values and principles that appear to have soured our relationship with the US, on foreign policy and transformatory legislation, may test Mr Meyer’s personal and political convictions,” Herron told Daily Maverick.
‘Trust deficit’
But the Afrikaner right deplored Meyer’s appointment. Corné Mulder, leader of the Freedom Front Plus (FF Plus), also in the GNU, told Daily Maverick that the Trump administration had made the Afrikaner issue a specific focus of its South African policy. But he said there was a “huge trust deficit” between Meyer and a “vast” group of Afrikaners – including Freedom Front Plus, AfriForum, Solidarity and some agricultural unions – who had established good relations with Washington.
Mulder said this was because the National Party had gone into negotiations in the 1990s to secure power-sharing and group rights, but the result had been “completely different”. He added that the trust deficit was aggravated by Meyer then joining the ANC.
AfriForum’s Kallie Kriel echoed this sentiment, tweeting on X that “the last thing the country needs now is for yet another ANC cadre to be deployed as SA’s ambassador to the USA”.
Action SA leader Herman Mashaba criticised the appointment from the opposite perspective, posting on X that: “President Ramaphosa has officially handed the country back to the National Party and completely compromised our freedom and our country’s sovereignty.”
/file/attachments/orphans/HDmzhGbW8AAwyrt_941172.jpg "US Ambassador to South Africa Leo Brent Bozell III recently met Roelf Meyer. (Photo: U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of South Africa / X)")
Meanwhile, Michelle Constant, CEO of the American Chamber of Commerce in SA, welcomed the appointment: “We are pleased with President Ramaphosa’s announcement of Mr Roelf Meyer as the new ambassador to Washington.
“Given the urgency of filling this position, we believe Mr Meyer possesses the necessary skills and diplomatic expertise to make a significant impact in both the US and SA.”
Tony Carroll, a former senior non-resident fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said: “Roelf Meyer will bring a strong background as a transitional figure in SA’s evolution from apartheid and an able diplomat and businessman for the three decades. I am especially pleased to know that he will have the able support of Thabo Thage as his deputy.
“Their combination will be a long overdue opportunity to reboot South Africa’s presence in Washington and advance bilateral diplomatic and commercial relations.” DM
Additional reporting by J. Brooks Spector.