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15 questions for Roelf Meyer

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15 questions for Roelf Meyer

The former politician is a director of the In Transformation Initiative, which advises on conflict management and resolution worldwide. And he is already looking forward to the 2027 Rugby World Cup.

Image: ANGELA TUCK

1. Describe yoursef in a hashtag?

#niksisonmoontliknie

2. What do you listen to in your car?

RSG.

3. What do you read first thing every morning?

The latest news from all around the world.

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15 vrae vir Roelf Meyer
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4. What international publications do you read and follow?

The Washington Post, The New York Times, Flipboard (smartphone app), Reuters.

5. What is your favourite food/dish when you entertain?

Lamb rib on the rotisserie; or fillet, fried whole, then sliced and prepared according to preference.

6. Your favourite singer?

I am a Swiftie for 2024 thanks to my 27-year-old stepdaughter, Gabriëlle.

Roelf Meyer.
Roelf Meyer.
Image: © WE THE PEOPLE SA

7. What did you learn from your parents?

Old-fashioned values, respect for my superiors, curiosity about the world outside my immediate environment, labour ennobles.

8. What kind of child were you and what did you like to play with?

I was an afterthought, and when I started to come to my senses my parents were already in their fifties. I immersed myself in my own world on our farm in the Eastern Cape. My first dog, Pepitan, was my playmate.

9. Your favourite book and movie?

Book: Undaunted Courage by Stephen E Ambrose. Movie: Anything with Tom Hanks or Meryl Streep. But Benny & Joon with Johnny Depp (1993) sticks with me.

10. What quality in yourself do you like least?

I struggle to sit still when I watch rugby.

11. And in others?

Haughtiness and know-alls.

12. The low point of your political career?

The end of the government of national unity in 1996.

13. And the highlight?

The peaceful transition from apartheid to democracy in 1994.

Top right: Leon Wessels, Cyril Ramaphosa and Roelf Meyer celebrate the passing of the constitution in 1996. Below: Ramaphosa and Meyer at Codesa.
Top right: Leon Wessels, Cyril Ramaphosa and Roelf Meyer celebrate the passing of the constitution in 1996. Below: Ramaphosa and Meyer at Codesa.
Image: © WE THE PEOPLE SA

14. What would you like to redo if you had another chance?

I would like to be fluent in more languages, especially one of our country's indigenous languages.

15. Would you choose the same career again and why?

Yes! I think I was made for what I do.

♦ VWB ♦

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Laureen Rossouw
Lifestyle editor

Laureen Rossouw is a former editor of ELLE Decoration. Design remains her passion, not only to promote our South African approach internationally but to introduce more South Africans to local designers.