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President Cyril Ramaphosa addressing the 2026 National Local Economic Development (LED) Summit, Birchwood Conference Centre, Ekurhuleni.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has defended the appointment of Roelf Meyer as South Africa’s next ambassador to the United States (US), saying he is more than qualified to take on the role.
Meyer’s appointment comes after the post remained vacant since March 2025, following the expulsion of former ambassador Ebrahim Rasool.
Rasool was declared persona non grata after publicly criticising the administration of US President Donald Trump. Roelf Meyer will still need to formally submit his credentials to the US authorities before assuming his duties.
He has expressed hope that the process will proceed smoothly, as he prepares to represent South Africa and continues flying the country’s flag on the international stage.
“Roelf Meyer was a cabinet minister and has done very well in those areas. Recently he’s been involved in mediation processes in a number of countries and that in many ways has sharpened his diplomatic skills where he has been able to get involved either in conflict situations trying to bring peace amongst differing warring parties at a very quiet level. He is continuing to assist even our government in these different diplomatic efforts and when we needed to appoint an ambassador in the United States, I found him to be more than qualified to be able to work in the United States, recalibrate our relationship with the United States, interface with a number of stakeholders.”
VIDEO | President Ramaphosa has described Roelf Meyer as a patriotic South African:
Ramaphosa is hopeful that Meyer will be accepted by the US officials.
“I am more than hopeful that just as we have received and accepted the credentials of Ambassador Bozel, he will also be accredited equally in that manner. So he will represent South Africa very well. He has always flown the South African flag and he will do so like all our ambassadors all over the world. All we should do is to wish him well at the very best and give him all the support that he needs. The United States is the largest economy in the world. He will still play an important role in our own Israeli fortunes. With more than that, at the diplomacy level, there’s quite a lot of work that needs to be done to recalibrate and in some ways repair the relationship with the United States.”
