Roelof Petrus (Roelf) Meyer was born on 16 July 1947 in the Eastern
Cape.
He matriculated at the Ficksburg High School in 1964, and completed
his B Comm and LLB degrees at the University of the Free State.
He practised as an attorney in Pretoria and Johannesburg until 1980.
After 21 years he resigned from active politics at the end of January
2000. During this period he was a Member of Parliament (since 1979),
Deputy Minister for Law and Order and subsequently of Constitutional
Development (December 1986 to August 1991) and Cabinet Minister (August
1991 to March 1996).
Roelf Meyer was intimately involved in the negotiations on the settlement
of the South African problem from 1989 to 1994, first as Deputy Minister
of Constitutional Affairs and thereafter as Minister in which capacity
he served as the National Party (NP) Government's chief negotiator. It
was in this capacity that he negotiated the end of apartheid together
with Cyril Ramaphosa, who was the chief negotiator of the African National
Congress (ANC). It was these negotiations that resulted in the first
democratic election in South Africa at the end of April 1994. After this
election Meyer continued in the same portfolio of Constitutional Affairs
in the Cabinet of former President Nelson Mandela until March 1996.
The thrust of the
negotiated settlement came about during the period 1992 to 1993. Of
this period Harris and Riley stated the following in their book "Democracy
and Deep-Rooted Conflict: Options for Negotiators."
"In other words,
good process moves the parties beyond an exclusive focus on the competition
of bargaining to include a degree of co-operation: without co-operation,
there will be no satisfactory outcome. Negotiations, in itself, implies
movement and should be a problem-solving process. Participants must,
to some degree, co-operate to find a solution to their problem.
The classic example
of such a working relationship was that which grew between the chief
South African negotiators, Roelf Meyer for the National Party and Cyril
Ramaphosa for the African National Congress. Such was the substance
of their relationship that it arguably salvaged the peace process in
its darkest days. In the midst of negotiations, a serious outbreak
of violence at Boipatong in June 1992 led the ANC to break off all
contact with the government. For almost 18 months thereafter, the "Roelf
and Cyril show" remained the only open channel of communication
between the sides. Meyer himself reflects on this point:
'Negotiators need
to develop a common understanding of each other's positions. In the
case of Cyril and myself, that common understanding led to friendship.
But what is very important in this process of coming to understand
each other is that you have to put yourself in the shoes of the person
on the other side ---. The personal chemistry between negotiators is
--- a very important ingredient of successful negotiations."
As one of the founding founders of the new South Africa, Meyer was unsatisfied
with the pace of reform in the National Party, and was especially discouraged
by the party's unwillingness to break from its narrow, racially polarized
vision. He therefore left the party to become a co-founder of the United
Democratic Movement (UDM) in 1997. The UDM was elected to Parliament
where Meyer served as Deputy President of the party and as Member of
Parliament until his resignation at the end of January 2000.
Meyer's negotiation skills and experience in the field of conflict resolution
have led to several international appointments, inter alia:
- A member of the
Strategy Committee of the PROJECT ON JUSTICE IN TIMES OF TRANSITION
at HARVARD UNIVERSITY
- The 2001 holder of
the Tip O'Neill Chair in Peace Studies at the University of Ulster,
Northern Ireland.
Meyer is currently the Chairman of the Civil Society Initiative (CSI)
of South Africa. The CSI is an a-political initiative and was established
in January 2000 with a view to realizing the full potential of civil
society in improving the lives of South Africans and with the aim of
encouraging the spirit of volunteering and self-help through inspiration,
participation and recognition.
During 2000 he became more involved in corporate business and in 2001
he became a Director of TILCA.
He is currently Deputy Executive Chairman of TILCA Infrastructure Corporation
(Pty) Ltd and is also involved in a strong international marketing drive
of TILCA's service offerings into Africa and the Middle and Far East,
utilizing his vast network of business contacts and connections.
Download a pdf
document on the outcome of Roelf's research....
.
