{"id":97351,"date":"2026-04-15T14:42:50","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T14:42:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/ramaphosa-to-name-new-ambassador-to-the-united-states"},"modified":"2026-04-15T15:19:23","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T15:19:23","slug":"ramaphosa-to-name-new-ambassador-to-the-united-states","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/ramaphosa-to-name-new-ambassador-to-the-united-states","title":{"rendered":"Ramaphosa To Name New Ambassador To The United States"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. <\/strong><\/span>South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is poised to tap veteran political negotiator Roelf Meyer as the country\u2019s next envoy to the US, as Pretoria seeks to steady relations with Washington after a turbulent year.<\/p>\n

Meyer, 78, would replace Ebrahim Rasool as ambassador, said the people who asked not to be identified as the information isn\u2019t public. Presidency spokesman Vincent Magwenya wasn\u2019t immediately available to comment.<\/p>\n

Meyer said he had no knowledge of the appointment, when Bloomberg contacted him by phone on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Meyer, a White Afrikaner who served as constitutional affairs minister during the apartheid era, is widely regarded as one of the architects of South Africa\u2019s democratic transition alongside Ramaphosa.<\/p>\n

He played a central role in negotiations that led to the end of White-minority rule, working closely with leaders of Ramaphosa\u2019s African National Congress to broker a settlement.<\/p>\n

Ties between Pretoria and Washington have been strained since Donald Trump returned to the White House in January 2025.<\/p>\n

Tensions escalated over Trump\u2019s repeated, unsubstantiated claims that South Africa is persecuting White farmers and seizing their land.<\/p>\n

The US government declared Rasool persona non grata in 2025, after he described Trump\u2019s supporters as part of a \u201csupremacist movement.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last week, Ramaphosa accepted the credentials of newly appointed US envoy Leo Brent Bozell, signaling a potential reset in diplomatic ties.<\/p>\n

Bozell met Meyer in March, when the US envoy said he was \u201cprivileged\u201d to learn more about his role in South Africa\u2019s democracy.<\/p>\n

\u201cA privilege to meet Roelf Meyer today and learn more about the work he did to help create South Africa\u2019s democracy. Our countries share a commitment to dialogue, democratic values, and working together to address today\u2019s challenges,\u201d Bozell said in a social media post.<\/p>\n

Zane Dangor, the director-general of South Africa\u2019s Department of International Relations and Cooperation, said on Monday that Ramaphosa had made a decision on who will be the next ambassador to Washington, without identifying the nominee.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt will be the kind of person who I think is ideally suited for the environment,\u201d Dangor was quoted as saying by Daily Maverick.<\/p>\n

Meyer currently serves as a director of the In Transformation Initiative, a non-profit that he helped found that promotes democratic transitions and conflict resolution.<\/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 is poised to tap veteran political negotiator Roelf Meyer as the country\u2019s next envoy to the US, as Pretoria seeks to steady relations with Washington after a turbulent year. Meyer, 78, would replace Ebrahim Rasool as ambassador, said the people who asked not to be identified as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":97350,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,12],"tags":[275],"class_list":["post-97351","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-south-africa-2"],"yoast_head":"\nRamaphosa To Name New Ambassador To The United States - South Africa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is poised to tap veteran political negotiator Roelf Meyer as the country\u2019s next ...\" \/>\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-to-name-new-ambassador-to-the-united-states\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ramaphosa To Name New Ambassador To The United States\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is poised to tap veteran political negotiator Roelf Meyer as the country\u2019s next ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/ramaphosa-to-name-new-ambassador-to-the-united-states\" \/>\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=\"2026-04-15T14:42:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-15T15:19:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2026\/04\/sm_1776253741.206624.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"900\" \/>\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-to-name-new-ambassador-to-the-united-states#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/ramaphosa-to-name-new-ambassador-to-the-united-states\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Ramaphosa To Name New Ambassador To The United States\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-15T14:42:50+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-15T15:19:23+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/ramaphosa-to-name-new-ambassador-to-the-united-states\"},\"wordCount\":397,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/ramaphosa-to-name-new-ambassador-to-the-united-states#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2026\/04\/sm_1776253741.206624.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"South-Africa\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/ramaphosa-to-name-new-ambassador-to-the-united-states#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/ramaphosa-to-name-new-ambassador-to-the-united-states\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/ramaphosa-to-name-new-ambassador-to-the-united-states\",\"name\":\"Ramaphosa To Name New Ambassador To The United States - 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