Welile Nhlapo

Welile Nhlapo’s diplomatic career began in exile. Active in youth organizations during the 1970s, he left South Africa for Botswana in 1974 and became the African National Congress’s chief representative there. He joined South Africa’s foreign service in 1994. ¹

As ambassador to Ethiopia from 1995, Nhlapo also represented South Africa at the Organization of African Unity and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa. He became deputy director-general responsible for Africa in 1998. In 2001 he headed a presidential support unit advising on conflicts in Africa and the Middle East; his assignments also included the African Union mission in Burundi. ¹

Nhlapo served as ambassador in Washington from 2007 to 2009. In October 2009 the presidency announced his appointment as Jacob Zuma’s special adviser on national security. The announcement emphasized his earlier leadership of the technical team supporting Zuma’s Burundi peace negotiations. ^{1, 2}

He subsequently served as South Africa’s special representative in the Great Lakes region in 2011–2012 and chaired the Kimberley Process in 2013. He also joined ACCORD as a senior political adviser in 2009. ¹