US ambassadorship ‘like a Sunday afternoon picnic’ for Meyer, says Holomisa
Bantu Holomisa backs Roelf Meyer as South Africa’s US ambassador, citing his experience, as tensions with Donald Trump’s administration continue to strain bilateral relations.
Deputy Minister of Defence and Military Veterans and UDM leader, Bantu Holomisa, says he has full confidence in Roelf Meyer, who has been appointed as South Africa’s ambassador to the US.
The 78-year-old, a former National Party politician, played a key role in negotiations that led to the end of apartheid.
He then served in the government of national unity under Nelson Mandela.
Holomisa told the SABC that Meyer’s diplomatic experience will make the role an easy task for him.
“ Knowing him, he's a good listener. He's a seasoned politician. He has been involved in resolving conflicts, not only in South Africa, but even outside South Africa. To me, this deployment for him is like a Sunday afternoon picnic. This is no crisis for Roelf Meyer.”
The role is seen as particularly sensitive given South Africa's fraught relationship with President Donald Trump's administration, which expelled the previous ambassador a year ago.
Meyer would start work "immediately following the completion of all protocols in Washington," presidential spokesman Vincent Magwenya told AFP.
Meyer, 78, joined the ANC in 2006.
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Ramaphosa last week received the diplomatic credentials of the new US ambassador, Brent Bozell, a right-wing media critic and staunch supporter of Trump.
Ties between the two countries are strained over a range of issues, from South Africa's genocide case against Israel at the UN top court, to Trump's disputed claims that white Afrikaners are persecuted by the post-apartheid government.
Washington expelled South Africa's previous ambassador in March last year after he criticised Trump's Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement.
South Africa is the United States' largest trading partner on the African continent, with more than 500 US businesses and 30,000 US citizens based in the country.
