South African president names Roelf Meyer as US Ambassador after diplomatic rift

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has appointed Roelf Meyer as the country’s next ambassador to the United States, according to a Reuters report.

“I can confirm that President Cyril Ramaphosa has appointed Mr Roelf Meyer as South Africa’s Ambassador to the US,” Reuters quoted Ramaphosa’s spokesperson Vincent Magwenya as saying on Tuesday.

The appointment was earlier reported by Bloomberg News, which said Ramaphosa was set to name Meyer as South Africa’s envoy to Washington.

Meyer, 78, would replace Ebrahim Rasool as ambassador, added the report.

South Africa has not had an ambassador in Washington since Rasool was expelled last year after angering the Trump administration.

Meyer is a veteran negotiator who served as the chief representative of South Africa’s white minority government during the talks that led to the end of apartheid in the 1990s.

Ramaphosa, who was a leading figure in the African National Congress at the time, played a key role as the liberation movement’s chief negotiator during those historic discussions.

With inputs from agencies