South Africa appoints former apartheid-era negotiator as US ambassador

Roelf Meyer, in case you care. This dude was one of the negotiators, on the side of the apartheid, that helped broker the deal to end the apartheid. He was rather good at his job, and had a good relationship with the ANC's lead negotiator. Could be said that his efforts were part of why the end of apartheid wasn't even bloodier, and part and why it actually succeeded given the failures of previous attempts. He went on to be part of a couple of parties, including working under Nelson Mandela in the ANC. I feel just calling him an apartheid-era negotiator is a bit lacking. Edit: I'll defer to OP's context below. More detailed than mine. The headline was poor, and I still feel al jazeera did him a deli service in the article, but OP provided solid context.

**Context** (for those who won't read the article) When South Africa's Apartheid regime was coming to an end, the Afrikaner government was divided between those who were progressive and ready to bring Apartheid to a close peacefully and transition to democracy, and those who wanted to dig in their heels and fight to the bitter end (including use of weapons of mass destruction). Thankfully, the diplomats on each side managed to find each other, and Black and White South Africans did not go to war but instead negotiated a new, democratic Constitution. Roelf Meyer was one of the progressives on the Afrikaner side who helped negotiate the transition to a democracy. He served as the National Party's key negotiator, and was the opposite number to the ANC's Cyril Ramaphosa, who is now the President. Meyer struck up a friendship with Ramaphosa which helped to repair the negotiations when they had almost broken down, and which served as a symbol of the racial cooperation that would be required to build the new nation. After the advent of democracy, he helped found a new multiracial political party called UDM, which did okay at first but eventually declined. He later joined the ANC. Meyer brings a lot to the table for South Africa as it tries to manage a tense relationship with the U.S.: 1. He is an expert negotiator who understands how to be diplomatic, and so is qualified for the core job 2. Cyril Ramaphosa trusts him deeply 3. He is White and an Afrikaner and grew up in the Apartheid regime, meaning that he can speak with some authority on race relations and also that he can provide context and fair criticism of claims by the far right elements in the Afrikaner community who are spreading misinformation about "White genocide" 4. Because of his work in ending Apartheid, he is also a symbol of the unity and sincerity of effort by Black and White South Africans to actually work together and he can speak to the reality of the progress that has been made. He's an excellent pick.

That’s a helluva provocative headline, AlJezeera. Appreciate you adding the context, OP.