South Africa’s new ambassador to the United States sends a message to Donald Trump

South Africa’s new ambassador to the US said persuading President Donald Trump to revoke an executive order that underpins Washington’s hostile stance toward Pretoria will be his top priority, arguing that it remains the biggest obstacle to restoring normal diplomatic and trade relations.

Trump signed the order in February 2025, suspending US assistance to South Africa and offering Afrikaners refugee status after falsely accusing Pretoria of subjecting White farmers to a genocide and seizing their land.

He’s also criticised the country’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice and its relations with Iran and allied militant group Hamas. 

Roelf Meyer, who presented his ambassadorial credentials to Trump earlier this year and left for Washington on Thursday, said he had the authority to negotiate with the US administration and seek compromises on some issues. 

“The starting point, I think, is for us to get the executive order lifted,” Meyer said in an interview.

“As long as the executive order remains, it can be used” against South Africa to justify the imposition of tariffs, trade restrictions or other punitive measures, he said.

Meyer’s comments offer the clearest indication yet of how Ramaphosa’s government intends to navigate one of the most difficult periods in relations between South Africa and the US since apartheid ended in 1994, while balancing pressure from its second-biggest trading partner after China against domestic political constraints.

A White Afrikaner and veteran political negotiator, the 78-year-old Meyer served as minister of constitutional affairs during the apartheid era and is widely regarded as one of the architects of South Africa’s democratic transition alongside President Cyril Ramaphosa.

He was tapped to replace Ebrahim Rasool, who was expelled from the US last year after he criticised the Trump administration.

Pretoria’s immediate objective is to persuade the administration that the assumptions underpinning the executive order were incorrect.

Meyer plans to engage not only the White House, but also the State Department, Congress and the Office of the US Trade Representative to better understand Washington’s current position.

“We have to go full out and change that position, he said.

Trade negotiations will be key to the interactions.

Meyer said the latest communication the USTR had conveyed to Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Parks Tau raised issues ranging from tariffs and longstanding trade disputes to broader political considerations.

These include Black economic empowerment, South Africa’s land expropriation laws and foreign policy, as well as market access for US pork and poultry.

South Africa was among 60 countries that were hit by new US duties this week. Its exports will be subjected to 12.5% tariffs, though some goods are exempt, including specified agricultural products and other commodities. 

While Meyer declined to detail the concessions he had been authorised to make before formal negotiations began, he said he had broad backing from the government.

“I received a clear picture,” he said of his consultations with Ramaphosa and several cabinet ministers. “It was a clear mandate to go ahead and do what we can to find solutions.”

Pretoria is, however, adamant that it won’t abandon its Black economic empowerment policies that are aimed at ensuring racially based wealth disparities stemming from the apartheid era are addressed. 

“There’s no way that South Africa can walk away from that,” Meyer said, describing the stance as “a matter of principle.”

He stressed that the focus should instead be on how the policy is implemented, pointing to South Africa’s equity equivalence framework as a mechanism that may allow multinational companies to meet empowerment requirements without having to relinquish partial ownership.

“We can’t make exceptions only for American companies,” he said.

Meyer acknowledged the unpredictability of dealing with Trump, noting that what is said in public could differ sharply from private discussions.

“I don’t think it’s that easy to please President Trump,” he said. “If I was a golfer, maybe it would have been easier.” While Meyer described his own encounter with Trump as “very friendly,” he cautioned that personal chemistry alone wouldn’t be enough to shift US policy.

“My impression from the three weeks that I spent in Washington is that there are agencies of government that want to step up investment in South Africa and expand trade, but their views may differ from Trump’s, Meyer said.

“I don’t think we can rely only on that. The White House might come back tomorrow and say something different.”