{"id":31948,"date":"2026-04-15T12:42:01","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T10:42:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/?post_type=news&#038;p=31948"},"modified":"2026-04-15T12:43:53","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T10:43:53","slug":"roelf-meyer-is-strategic-choice-as-sa-seeks-to-reset-us-relations-expert","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/roelf-meyer-is-strategic-choice-as-sa-seeks-to-reset-us-relations-expert\/","title":{"rendered":"Roelf Meyer, a strategic choice for US Ambassador as SA seeks to reset relations: Expert"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>President Cyril Ramaphosa announced Meyer\u2019s appointment on Monday, replacing Ebrahim Rasool, who was expelled from the US last year amid diplomatic tensions. The decision comes as SA looks to normalise relations following a difficult period marked by political friction and reduced engagement.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Speaking to the SABC, Matambo said the appointment signals a clear intent by the SA government to stabilise bilateral relations.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat we want at the moment is just a return to some semblance of normalcy between SA and the US,\u201d Matambo said.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s been a year since Ebrahim Rasool was ejected from the US. Ramaphosa has now accepted the credentials of the new US Ambassador to SA, Leo Brent Bozell, and I think he wanted to get the ball rolling on both sides.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Matambo described Meyer, 78, as a seasoned negotiator whose political experience could help lower tensions and restore dialogue. \u201cI think it\u2019s quite a pragmatic choice,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;SABC\/ChannelAfrica&#8211;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":31891,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[26],"class_list":["post-31948","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-general_news","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"International Relations Expert Dr Emmanuel Matambo has described the appointment of veteran politician Roelf Meyer as South Africa\u2019s (SA) new Ambassador to the United States (US) as a pragmatic and strategic move, aimed at restoring strained ties between Pretoria and Washington.","published_date":"","news_description":"International Relations Expert Dr Emmanuel Matambo has described the appointment of veteran politician Roelf Meyer as South Africa\u2019s (SA) new Ambassador to the United States (US) as a pragmatic and strategic move, aimed at restoring strained ties between Pretoria and Washington.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/31948","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/31948\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31953,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/31948\/revisions\/31953"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31891"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31948"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=31948"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}