South Africa: No Golf, but Roelf Meyer, SA's New Ambassador to US, Will Walk the Course

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Diplomatic reset, South Africa and the United States flags.
22 May 2026
Daily Maverick (Johannesburg)
By Victoria O'regan

The most pressing issue for South Africa is improving trade relations between Pretoria and Washington, says new SA ambassador to the US, Roelf Meyer.

Veteran political negotiator Roelf Meyer presented his credentials to President Donald Trump on Thursday, making him the new South African ambassador to the US at a time when political relations between the two countries have been frosty.

Meyer (78) replaces Ebrahim Rasool after more than a year of tension between Pretoria and Washington that followed Trump's return to the White House. Rasool was expelled after insinuating in a public webinar that Trump was a white supremacist.

new chapter Time for change: Ambassador Roelf Meyer begins new chapter for SA-US relations May 20, 2026 Meyer is regarded as one of the foremost architects of South Africa's democratic transition and, before his appointment to the US, served as director of the Transformation Initiative, which engages in peace initiatives around the world and negotiates complex processes in South Africa.

Speaking to the SABC's Oliver Dickson after presenting his credentials to the US President, Meyer said: "We were, altogether, 12 ambassadors from different countries who were received today, and we handed our credentials, on behalf of our respective heads of state, to President Trump personally."

Pressed by Dickson for details of the ceremony, Meyer added: "He [Trump] did ask...

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