Ramaphosa’s US Ambassador Shortlist Sparks Debate Inside ANC

(The Post News)- President Cyril Ramaphosa’s possible choice of a white Afrikaner as South Africa’s next ambassador to the United States has stirred deep divisions within the ANC, with some in the party warning it could be viewed as pandering to Washington’s political rhetoric.

Insiders familiar with the talks say names being considered include Roelf Meyer, a former defence minister and CODESA negotiator; Marthinus van Schalkwyk, the last leader of the National Party and later an ANC minister; Andries Nel, former deputy justice minister; and Gerhardus Koornhof, parliamentary counsellor to the president. All have ties to either the ANC or past governments and would represent a high-profile pick.

The thinking, according to party sources who spoke on condition of anonymity, is that appointing a respected Afrikaner could help soften diplomatic tensions with the US – especially after years of friction under former President Donald Trump, who accused South Africa of unfair treatment of white farmers and threatened sanctions on local officials.

But not everyone’s buying that logic. Some within the ANC’s National Executive Committee believe such a move would send the wrong signal, that the government is conceding to foreign pressure by choosing an envoy from a minority demographic and one that Trump has previously tried to paint as being under threat in South Africa.

“The president first floated the idea with a few close comrades,” one senior insider said. “He believed appointing an Afrikaner with ANC links would defuse the unnecessary mudslinging between Pretoria and Washington. But a lot of NEC members are not on board.”

Mcebisi Jonas, current special envoy to the US and former deputy finance minister, had also been considered for the ambassador post. But his past public criticism of Trump – including a video clip from 2020 in which he called the former US president a racist and homophobe – has raised eyebrows in both Pretoria and Washington.

ANC-aligned voices aren’t the only ones weighing in. Nhlamulo Ndhlela, spokesperson for the uMkhonto WeSizwe Party, accused Ramaphosa of revisiting “a 30-year-old sellout”, referencing Roelf Meyer’s role in the transition from apartheid. “Today he wants to sell out again,” Ndhlela claimed. As of now, neither the South African government nor the ANC has released an official statement; the final decision rests with Ramaphosa.