How Ramaphosa Chose Roelf Meyer As South Africa’s New Ambassador to the United States
- President Cyril Ramaphosa selected former apartheid-era negotiator Roelf Meyer as South Africa's new ambassador to Washington
- Meyer was chosen over other candidates, including Deputy Minister of Justice Andries Nel and former ambassador John Jeffreys
- The SACP has strongly condemned the appointment, calling for the decision to be reversed
Nerissa Naidoo, a journalist at Briefly News since 2024, previously worked as an editor, content creator, researcher, and ghostwriter before joining the team.
Source: Facebook
GAUTENG, PRETORIA - South Africa has a new face heading to Washington, and the choice has sparked a heated conversation about race, diplomacy and what it means to represent the country abroad. President Cyril Ramaphosa confirmed Roelf Meyer as South Africa's next ambassador to the United States. It was a decision that the Presidency says was driven entirely by the urgent need to steady a diplomatic relationship that has been under serious strain. This is particularly since the abrupt return of former ambassador Ebrahim Rasool.
Why Meyer got the job?
Presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya was clear that the appointment came down to experience and the unusual nature of the current diplomatic climate, not race. While some insiders suggested that a white candidate might be better received in American political circles under Donald Trump, Magwenya pushed back firmly.
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"What I should dispel is that he was looking for a white candidate, that is not the case," he said.
Magwenya described the situation in Washington as anything but ordinary, saying the role calls for someone who knows how to handle pressure and complexity at the highest level.
"You need someone with the gravitas and experience in conflict situations," he said.
Meyer's background in high-pressure negotiations, most notably his role in South Africa's constitutional talks in the 1990s, as well as his long-standing personal relationship with Ramaphosa, ultimately put him ahead of the other candidates considered for the position.
Magwenya also noted that Rasool's return was not a decision made by South Africa, saying the former ambassador had been making progress before US authorities moved to have him removed.
SACP pushes back hard
Not everyone is on board with the decision. The South African Communist Party came out strongly against the appointment, arguing that putting Meyer in the role goes against the country's transformation goals and the values of its democracy. The party described Meyer as a figure of the apartheid era whose outlook makes him a poor fit to carry South Africa's flag abroad, regardless of the part he played in the constitutional negotiations that followed.
The SACP called on Ramaphosa to reverse the decision and said all progressives should add their voices to that demand.
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Source: Briefly News
