MK Party hits back at Roelf Meyer’s US Ambassador appointment
The MK Party has become the latest party to call on President Cyril Ramaphosa to reconsider the appointment of Roelf Meyer as the Ambassador to the US.
Image: Timothy Bernard / Independent Newspapers
The MK Party has rejected the appointment of veteran politician Roelf Meyer, a key National Party Minister during apartheid, as South Africa’s Ambassador to the US.
The party said that while it does not reject individuals based on race or past political labels alone, historical responsibility and political accountability cannot be ignored when determining who should represent the democratic will and aspirations of the people of South Africa on the global stage.
President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the appointment on Tuesday night, sparking significant criticism and debate across the political spectrum.
Meyer was a member of Parliament from 1979 to 1997.
As the Minister of Constitutional Affairs under F.W. de Klerk, he was the lead negotiator for the National Party.
He developed a close, pragmatic working relationship with Ramaphosa as the ANC's chief negotiator to end apartheid and pave the way for the 1994 democratic elections.
The 78-year-old held several significant posts in the National Party government, including Minister of Defence from 1991 to 1992 and Deputy Minister of Law and Order.
These roles have remained a point of controversy for critics who highlight his involvement in the security apparatus of the late apartheid era.
The MK Party on Thursday said Meyer’s appointment cannot be divorced from the political relationship between him and Ramaphosa.
“It reinforces the perception that the ANC leadership remains more comfortable with familiar negotiating partners of the past than with advancing a bold new direction for the future. The MK Party therefore rejects the appointment of Meyer as ambassador to the US in the strongest possible terms,” said spokesperson Nhlamulo Ndhlela.
Asked if the announcement means the US has already accepted the appointment, Ramaphosa's spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said there were still administrative protocols to be fulfilled on the US side.
"Hence, he is South Africa’s Ambassador designate to the US,” he said.
The appointment was widely seen as a strategic move to stabilise relations with Trump's administration, which has recently targeted the ANC government with economic and diplomatic sanctions.
This was after Trump recently cut all financial assistance and implemented a migration program for white Afrikaners. He accused the ANC government of allowing a “white genocide” against the Afrikaner minority, a claim the South African government has repeatedly denied.