South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa has appointed Roelf Meyer, who served in the last government of the apartheid era, as his new ambassador to the US.

The country has not had a top envoy in the US since Ebrahim Rasool was expelled last year after he accused President Donald Trump of trying to “project white victimhood as a dog whistle”.

This worsened already strained relations between the nations, which took a downward spiral after Trump’s return to office last year.

Ramaphosa’s spokesperson Vincent Magwenya confirmed Meyer’s appointment saying it would be “immediate”.

Meyer played a key role as one of the chief mediators, alongside Ramaphosa, during the talks to end the racist system of white-minority rule known as apartheid in South Africa in the 1990s.

He was the chief representative of the National Party, which introduced apartheid, while Ramaphosa represented the African National Congress (ANC) led by Nelson Mandela. During that period, the two enjoyed a fishing trip together and went on to form a lifelong friendship.

Esther Ndu