Ramaphosa taps fishing buddy Roelf Meyer as US ambassador

The Presidency has confirmed the choice of Roelf Meyer as South Africa’s ambassador to the US. Meyer is a seasoned negotiator who formed a close relationship with President Cyril Ramaphosa when each led their respective teams in talks to end apartheid.

The two struck up a rapport that has lasted and now Meyer (78) takes up the hot seat in Washington, the Presidency confirmed in a late-night statement after Reuters revealed it.

Meyer leads a global consultancy, the In Transformation Initiative, where he has taken his negotiating nous global, engaging in peace initiatives in countries around the world and in negotiating complex processes in South Africa.

His affable personality can take on belligerence and absorb or challenge it, possibly his strongest pull factor as Ramaphosa sought a leader who can hold South Africa’s position when faced with a Trump presidency that has attacked the country many times since he took over, according to the Daily Maverick’s Trump Tracker.

“He has the networks in both parties in [Washington DC] to engage with both on the key issues concerned. He is au fait and 100% on board with a rights-based approach, including our approach on Palestine,” said a diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“He will use his skills and experience to promote our values and interests without selling out our principles.”

Meyer has a tough task to rebuild political and trade relationships with the US, both of which have hit the skids. South Africa runs a significant trade surplus with the US and Meyer’s first order of business will be to try to ensure the African Growth and Opportunity Act is extended.

Under a short extension, this preferential access deal underpins $15-billion in total bilateral trade, especially in auto and citrus exports. The motor manufacturing industry depends on this agreement.

Meyer was born in what is now Gqeberha (formerly Port Elizabeth) and was political from a young age as chair of the Afrikaanse Studentebond. He became a National Party MP in 1979 for Johannesburg West and by 1988 had seen the writing on the wall and realised change was inevitable.

Associated with the “verligte” or enlightened wing of the NP, he got to know the unionist and negotiator Ramaphosa well and their relationship was one of the reasons that talks to end apartheid succeeded.

While the newly installed US ambassador to South Africa, Leo Brent Bozell III, has made headlines after he faced an early demarche from International Relations and Cooperation Minister Ronald Lamola after saying he did not agree with a freedom of speech judgment, he has, in fact, assiduously been building relationships.

This week, Bozell met former president Thabo Mbeki at the statesman’s foundation, while he has also put in time at the Apartheid Museum and other places that contain South Africa’s story.

Meyer’s appointment may suggest that an important relationship for both the US and South Africa is being steadied even in a time of unprecedented geopolitical uncertainty. DM