HERMAN MASHABA | Appointing Roelf Meyer as ambassador to US exposes Ramaphosa’s fixation with pandering to white nationalists

I’m not a prophet, and I won’t claim to be one. However, today, my position that Cyril Ramaphosa will de-legitimise undertakings to dismantle apartheid and champion transformation is unfolding. The appointment of former National Party leader, Roelf Meyer, as South Africa’s Ambassador to the United States (US) exposes the extent of Ramaphosa’s fixation with pandering to white nationalists.

It is shameful that such a strategic appointment for the country’s global image is placed with a 78-year-old enforcer of Apartheid.

The strong opposition by patriotic South Africans over this appointment is warranted. For many of us, Meyer represents the trauma of a history marked by ethnic cleansing and disenfranchisement of black people based on race. However, this appointment by Ramaphosa reveals what I have said about his vacuous leadership style. He serves and protects white imperialist capitalists first, before the citizens of the country.

In the lead-up to the 2024 general elections, the Democratic Alliance (DA)’s propaganda was the “doomsday coalition” that included the Economic Freedom Fighters and uMkhonto WeSizwe Party. According to the DA, a coalition of black political parties was reprehensible for a black-majority country.

In a manner that was similar to Apartheid’s racist propaganda, black unity was the boogeyman that South Africa had to avoid at all costs.

It came as no surprise when the formation of the 2024 Government of National dis-Unity sought allyship with the racist DA. The prospect of uniting black political parties to govern never came to light. The calls from the South African Communist Party (SACP) - a partner in the Tripartite Alliance - to unite black political parties were flatly ignored. Ramaphosa was more than pleased to bring the DA to act as the big brother who steered the direction and outcome of coalition talks. Two years later, and the GNU has made no progress to improve the lives and upward mobility of black people. Thanks to the DA’s chief puppet, Cyril Ramaphosa.

It appears that South Africa’s first citizen will not waste an opportunity to campaign for the DA. In September 2025, he told African National Congress (ANC) councillors on a televised platform to learn about governance from DA-run municipalities. According to him, the DA’s perpetuation of Apartheid service delivery evidenced in Khayelitsha and the Cape Flats is exemplary. Of course, he would not dare attribute praise to the leadership of his own party in coalition arrangements that are closer to home.

It is absurd that the President was prepared to ignore a very successful coalition government in the country’s capital city, the City of Tshwane, led by Dr Nasiphi Moya of ActionSA, with his own party, the ANC as the biggest party in such a coalition arrangement. This coalition was formed in October 2024 after eight years of mismanagement by the party that the President expects ANC Councilors to learn from, including their failure to provide public services to poor communities. Was this an oversight by the President? I don’t think so.

This lecture by President Ramaphosa to ANC councillors happened in the same week that Helen Zille was going to be announced as the City of Joburg mayoral candidate. This was obviously a direct endorsement of the DA by the President of the ANC; hence it is a regular campaign tool used by the DA to claim their governance record.

One cannot speak glowingly of the public benefit from Ramaphosa’s purported track record in business. Whatever acumen he possesses has failed the test of accountability and consequence management. This Government of National (GNU) is riddled with compromised individuals with poor ethical conduct or the desire to serve South Africa.

While serving as the Minister of Justice, Thembi Simelane was under investigation for theft of R700 000.00 for fraudulent billing of Eskom through a consulting firm. Added to that, she faces criminal allegations for looting pension funds at VBS Bank while she was the Mayor of Polokwane. The President didn’t fire her. Instead, he redeployed her as Minister of Human Settlements.

In March 2026, Parliament found former Higher Education Minister Nobuhle Nkabane guilty of ethics breaches and dereliction of duty for appointing 21 SETA board chairpersons who have close ties to the ANC. As a reward for loyalty to cadre deployment, Nkabane was redeployed as the ANC’s Chief Whip a few months later.

Social Development Minister Sisisi Tolashe is currently caught in a scandal over accepting undeclared luxury cars from Chinese officials and giving them to her children. It has now emerged that Minister in the Presidency Maropene Ramokgopa also accepted cars from Chinese officials, which she gave to family members.

I am almost certain that the President will not discipline these officials. The status quo will remain.

What more, then, can South Africans expect from a president who refuses to lead? We have a government that sends golf buddies of Donald Trump as part of an official delegation to repair strained relations with the US because of a misinformation campaign against our country. We now have the likes of Meyer being hand-picked to represent the country to navigate misinformation issues that South Africa is not aware of. Again, singing to the tune of the Trump Administration that has clearly aligned itself with AfriForum’s disinformation campaign aimed at destabilising the country.

South Africa’s sovereignty is compromised because we are led by someone who is indecisive, does not exercise accountable leadership when it is most needed, and, more importantly, has allowed our domestic situation to deteriorate, affecting mostly the poor and the most vulnerable in our societies.

None of this is to deny that individuals from the Apartheid era can evolve and play constructive roles in a democratic society. South Africa’s history is full of such complexities. However, the bar for public service should be higher when it comes to representing the nation on the global stage, particularly in a relationship as strategically important as that with the US.

Ultimately, the question facing President Ramaphosa is not simply about “recalibrating relations” between South Africa and the US. It’s about vision and awareness. This appointment signals a retreat into his comfort and proximity to white nationalists at a time when clear values and decisiveness are urgently needed.