麻豆社

Ione Wells speaks to Roelf Meyer, South Africa鈥檚 new ambassador to the United States. In the 1990s, Meyer was one of the leading negotiators in the talks that helped bring apartheid to an end.

Now he takes up his new post amid a serious rupture in relations with the US President Trump has cut aid, expelled the previous South African ambassador and offered refugee status to white Afrikaners he says are fleeing persecution, claiming the community faces 鈥済enocide鈥�.

The South African government rejects that allegation. Meyer, himself an Afrikaner, explains why he believes Trump has been given the wrong picture and how his experience negotiating the end of apartheid could help repair relations with Washington.

鈥淭he notion of a mass attack on the Afrikaner was misrepresented by those that might have conveyed the message. I mean, I鈥檓 an Afrikaner from South Africa myself. And I can say that I鈥檝e never experienced something of that kind. We found it strange. So the source is misrepresented, unfortunately, something that just doesn鈥檛 exist,鈥� says Meyer.

(Photo: Roelf Meyer, South Africa鈥檚 ambassador to the US, wears a navy blazer with a white shirt and light blue tie. He has short white hair. Credit: Getty Images)

The Interview brings you conversations with people shaping our world, from all over the world. The best interviews from the 麻豆社, including episodes with Sundar Pichai and Julia Gillard.

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Presenter: Ione Wells
Producer: Osman Iqbal
Editor: Damon Rose