Roelf Meyer during the national convention. (Photo: Phill Magakoe / AFP)
The MK party said on Thursday that it rejected the appointment of Roelf Meyer as South Africa’s ambassador to the USA and labeled it a “diplomatic and political mistake”.
The party says it does not reject individuals simply on the basis of race or their political past, but says that “historical responsibility and political accountability cannot be ignored”.
According to the MK party, Meyer is “not an ordinary former politician”, but someone who served as a senior minister in the apartheid government and was later the National Party’s chief negotiator during the constitutional negotiations. At the time, he sat opposite Cyril Ramaphosa as “one of the main architects of the settlement”.
The party links Meyer’s possible appointment directly to his history with Ramaphosa and argues that the decision “does not reflect national consensus, but the continuation of favor and familiarity between former negotiating partners”.
The MK party further criticizes the outcome of the negotiations in the 1990s and says it put “stability above structural transformation”.
Roelf Meyer has been named as South Africa’s new ambassador to the USA. (Photo: Wikus de Wet/AFP)
The party says South Africa needs ambassadors who promote economic sovereignty, strengthen Pan-African cooperation, attract investments that build local industry and create jobs, as well as defend the country’s independent foreign policy. In addition, representatives must also convey the message “that there is no white genocide in South Africa”.
“The appointment of Mr. Meyer sends the opposite message,” says the MK party.
The MK party believes the decision reinforces the impression that the ANC leadership is “more comfortable with known negotiating partners from the past than promoting a new, bold direction for the future”.
The party consequently rejected the appointment “in the strongest possible terms” and warned that symbolic reconciliation without substantial change is no longer sufficient.
“Anything less risks betraying the sacrifices of those who gave their lives for freedom,” the party said.