The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) on Wednesday called for the rescinding of Roelf Meyer’s appointment as South Africa’s ambassador to the US, claiming that his appointment reflects a “dangerous” willingness by government to appease US President Donald Trump's “white supremacist whims by presenting a figure it said is palatable to white power structures”.

President Cyril Ramaphosa appointed Meyer as the new ambassador, following a vacancy of over a year, which occurred after Ebrahim Rasool was expelled in March 2025.

Rasool was declared persona non grata by the Trump administration following tensions related to comments regarding US white supremacist movements and land reform in South Africa.

The EFF rejected Meyer’s appointment, labelling it “politically tone-deaf” and a “deliberate insult” to the country’s democratic struggle.

Meyer was a chief government negotiator for the National Party (NP) during the negotiations to end apartheid, opposite Ramaphosa who led negotiations for the African National Congress.

Meyer also served in former President Nelson Mandela’s administration.

“It is important to recall that revolutionaries such as Chris Hani were never naive about figures like Meyer. Hani consistently warned against romanticising members of the apartheid regime who suddenly rebranded themselves as democrats.

“He cautioned that individuals such as Roelf Meyer, along with other National Party operatives, had not fundamentally transformed their worldview, but were instead adapting in order to preserve white economic power under new political conditions,” the EFF stated.

The party said Meyer’s appointment was “deeply offensive” as South Africa commemorated Hani’s assassination.

The EFF claimed that government was willing to rehabilitate those who once upheld oppression, to appease global powers.

Meyer served as a Member of Parliament for the NP from 1979 and went on to hold several key positions within the apartheid government, including Deputy Minister of Law and Order and later Minister of Defence.

The EFF said Meyer’s involvement in South Africa’s transition process in the 1990s could not be used to “sanitise or erase” his earlier role in upholding apartheid.

The EFF said at a time when the US was grappling with entrenched racism and the resurgence of right-wing, white supremacist politics, South Africa should be asserting a “bold, uncompromising anti-imperialist posture”, not deploying individuals whose past aligns with systems of racial domination.

The party instead called for selection of representatives who embodied the “true revolutionary values” of South Africa.