{"id":97345,"date":"2026-04-15T14:42:19","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T14:42:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/ramaphosa-appoints-apartheid-era-negotiator-as-u-s-ambassador"},"modified":"2026-04-15T15:18:56","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T15:18:56","slug":"ramaphosa-appoints-apartheid-era-negotiator-as-u-s-ambassador","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/ramaphosa-appoints-apartheid-era-negotiator-as-u-s-ambassador","title":{"rendered":"Ramaphosa Appoints Apartheid-Era Negotiator as U.S. Ambassador"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. <\/strong><\/span>South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has chosen Roelf Meyer, a former chief government negotiator during talks to end white minority rule in the 1990s, to be his country\u2019s next ambassador to the United States.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can confirm that President Cyril Ramaphosa has appointed Mr Roelf Meyer as South Africa\u2019s Ambassador to the US,\u201d Ramaphosa\u2019s spokesperson Vincent Magwenya told Reuters on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Meyer, who later served in the unity government of Nelson Mandela, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

South Africa has not had an ambassador in Washington since its last one, Ebrahim Rasool, was expelled in March 2025 after angering the Trump administration.<\/p>\n

Relations between Washington and Pretoria have been tense during President Donald Trump\u2019s second term.<\/p>\n

Trump has made false claims about the persecution of South Africa\u2019s white Afrikaner minority, and created a refugee programme for them \u2014 which Pretoria regards as a preferential immigration scheme for whites.<\/p>\n

Meyer, 78, is himself Afrikaner. The veteran politician began his career as a parliamentarian in 1979 under P.W. Botha, the defiant face of white rule at the height of the anti-apartheid struggle. He later served as minister of defence and then constitutional affairs under President F.W. de Klerk.<\/p>\n

He gained prominence negotiating for the National Party during talks to end apartheid, becoming its chief negotiator in 1993, the year before South Africa\u2019s first democratic elections.<\/p>\n

Ramaphosa was the chief negotiator for the African National Congress, the liberation movement at the time, and both men were recognised for their work in breaking deadlocked negotiations.<\/p>\n

Ramaphosa \u201cdescribes him as a true citizen committed to a non-racial South Africa\u201d, according to a biography of Meyer on South Africa\u2019s presidency website.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About South-Africa<\/span> Follow Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has chosen Roelf Meyer, a former chief government negotiator during talks to end white minority rule in the 1990s, to be his country\u2019s next ambassador to the United States. \u201cI can confirm that President Cyril Ramaphosa has appointed Mr Roelf Meyer as South Africa\u2019s Ambassador to the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":97344,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,7,12],"tags":[275],"class_list":["post-97345","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-head-lines","category-policy","tag-south-africa-2"],"yoast_head":"\nRamaphosa Appoints Apartheid-Era Negotiator as U.S. Ambassador - South Africa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has chosen Roelf Meyer, a former chief government negotiator during talks to end ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/ramaphosa-appoints-apartheid-era-negotiator-as-u-s-ambassador\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ramaphosa Appoints Apartheid-Era Negotiator as U.S. Ambassador\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has chosen Roelf Meyer, a former chief government negotiator during talks to end ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/ramaphosa-appoints-apartheid-era-negotiator-as-u-s-ambassador\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"South Africa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-04-15T14:42:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-15T15:18:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2026\/04\/sm_1776253714.727537.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"675\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/ramaphosa-appoints-apartheid-era-negotiator-as-u-s-ambassador#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/ramaphosa-appoints-apartheid-era-negotiator-as-u-s-ambassador\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Ramaphosa Appoints Apartheid-Era Negotiator as U.S. Ambassador\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-15T14:42:19+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-15T15:18:56+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/ramaphosa-appoints-apartheid-era-negotiator-as-u-s-ambassador\"},\"wordCount\":303,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/ramaphosa-appoints-apartheid-era-negotiator-as-u-s-ambassador#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2026\/04\/sm_1776253714.727537.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"South-Africa\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"head lines\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/ramaphosa-appoints-apartheid-era-negotiator-as-u-s-ambassador#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/ramaphosa-appoints-apartheid-era-negotiator-as-u-s-ambassador\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/ramaphosa-appoints-apartheid-era-negotiator-as-u-s-ambassador\",\"name\":\"Ramaphosa Appoints Apartheid-Era Negotiator as U.S. Ambassador - 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