South Africa Appoints Roelf Meyer as Ambassador to US

# South Africa Names Roelf Meyer as Ambassador to US Amid Diplomatic Tensions South Africa appointed Roelf Meyer as its next ambassador to the US, according to President Cyril Ramaphosa’s spokesperson. Meyer, who is 78 years old, served as the National Party’s chief negotiator during the 1993-94 transition to democracy in South Africa.

He worked opposite Cyril Ramaphosa to craft the constitutional framework that ended apartheid.

The ambassador post in Washington has remained vacant since last year. Ebrahim Rasool was expelled as South Africa’s last top diplomat to the US for comments he made at a webinar. Rasool said at the webinar that the Maga movement was partly a response to a supremacist instinct.

Tensions between South Africa and the US have grown over South Africa’s alignment with the BRICS grouping. Tensions have also grown over South Africa’s genocide case against Israel. Additional tensions have arisen over US-alleged cozying up to Iran by South Africa.

African Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana was barred from attending a G20 finance meeting in Washington this week.

Reserve Bank Governor Lesetja Kganyago was also barred from the meeting. The G20 finance meeting session occurred on Thursday. The G20 finance meeting is the first time finance ministers and central bank governors will formally gather under the Trump presidency.

The US excluded South Africa from the December G20 summit in Miami.

co-founded the United Democratic Movement with Roelf Meyer in the 1990s.

Meyer's role in the 1993-94 negotiations positioned him as a key figure in South Africa's post-apartheid framework. Semafor reported on the appointment and the surrounding diplomatic context.