Germany–South Africa relations are the current and historical relations between

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. Germany has an embassy in

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends ...

and a consulate in

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

. South Africa has an embassy in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

and a consulate-general in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

History

World War I

In 1914, South Africa entered

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

on behalf of the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...

against the

German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...

. South Africa subsequently conquered German South-West Africa and occupied it until the independence of

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

in 1990.

World War II

South Africa entered

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

on the side of the

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

against

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

and other Axis members. Many in South Africa, including the

Afrikaner Afrikaners () are a South African ethnic group descended from Free Burghers, predominantly Dutch settlers first arriving at the Cape of Good Hope in the 17th and 18th centuries.Entry: Cape Colony. ''Encyclopædia Britannica Volume 4 Part 2: ...

Ossewabrandwag (OB) movement, objected and sought to maintain South African neutrality during the conflict, if not enter the war on the side of Germany. Members of the OB refused to enlist in the South African forces, and sometimes harassed servicemen in uniform. This erupted into open rioting in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

on 1 February 1941; 140 soldiers were seriously hurt.Bunting, Brian. ''The Rise Of The South African Reich'', Chapter 6
More dangerous than this was the formation of the ''Stormjaers'' ( en, Assault troops, literally stormhunters), a paramilitary wing of the OB similar to the Nazi ''

Sturmabteilung The (; SA; literally "Storm Detachment") was the original paramilitary wing of the Nazi Party. It played a significant role in Adolf Hitler's rise to power in the 1920s and 1930s. Its primary purposes were providing protection for Nazi ral ...

''. The nature of the ''Stormjaers'' was evidenced by the oath sworn by new recruits: "If I retreat, kill me. If I die, avenge me. If I advance, follow me" ( af, As ek omdraai, skiet my. As ek val, wreek my. As ek storm, volg my). The ''Stormjaers'' engaged in

sabotage Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening a polity, effort, or organization through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. One who engages in sabotage is a ''saboteur''. Saboteurs typically try to conceal their identitie ...

against the Union government. They dynamited electrical power lines and railroads, and cut

telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...

and

telephone A telephone is a telecommunications device that permits two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most efficiently the human voice, into e ...

lines. These types of acts were going too far for most Afrikaners, and Malan ordered the National Party to break with the OB in 1942. The Union government cracked down on the OB and the ''Stormjaers'', placing thousands of them in internment camps for the duration of the war. Among the internees was future prime minister

B. J. Vorster Balthazar Johannes "B. J." Vorster (; also known as John Vorster; 13 December 1915 – 10 September 1983) was a South African apartheid politician who served as the prime minister of South Africa from 1966 to 1978 and the fourth state presid ...

. At the end of the war, the OB was absorbed into the National Party and ceased to exist as a separate body.

Germany and Apartheid South Africa

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

and

Apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

South Africa had very close ties, despite international sanctions. In 1951, a West German General Consulate was opened in Cape Town. In 1955, negotiations for a cultural agreement started. In 1956, a trial of 156 members of the opposition for high treason started. The South African prosecution sought Bonn's assistance in this important trial and received it without delay. One of the accused in this trial was

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist who served as the President of South Africa, first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1 ...

.''Incriminating Documents'', german-foreign-policy.com 09.12.2013.German original.
/ref> During the 1960s and 1970s West Germany and South Africa even had a nuclear cooperation. In the early 1970s, the FRG had to withdraw its NATO ambassador because he had visited a South African uranium enrichment plant. The West German arms industry exported armour to South Africa - even after the 1977 official proclamation of the UN arms embargo. "Daimler is a vital partner of the South African war industry," concluded Abdul Minty, director of the international anti-Apartheid Organization in the late 1980s. "And if there is an international company, which could weaken the army of the apartheid state, it would be

Daimler-Benz The Mercedes-Benz Group Aktiengesellschaft, AG (previously named Daimler-Benz, DaimlerChrysler and Daimler) is a German Multinational corporation, multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It ...

." Despite UN sanctions,

Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm (MBB) was a West German aerospace manufacturer. It was formed during the late 1960s as the result of efforts to consolidate the West German aerospace industry; aircraft manufacturer Messerschmitt AG merged with the civi ...

exported helicopters to South Africa. To evade the sanctions in 1979 the South African company Atlantis Diesel Engines was established. Daimler-Benz had a 12% share in this company. When more than 100 US enterprises withdrew from South Africa in mid-1987, West German companies expanded their trade and investments in South Africa.

Post-apartheid

Since the end of

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

, relations between the two countries have increased. The German-South African Binational Commission has provided a framework for bilateral cooperation since 1996. During the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...

President Ramaphosa of South Africa and German Chancellor Scholz publicly disagreed over their respective stances on the war; with Germany being strongly critical of the Russian invasion and South Africa advocating for a more neutral stance that was friendlier towards Russia.

State visits

In October 2007, Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel visited South Africa to meet South African President Thabo Mbeki. In 2010, German foreign minister

Guido Westerwelle Guido Westerwelle (; 27 December 1961 – 18 March 2016) was a German politician who served as Foreign Minister in the second cabinet of Chancellor Angela Merkel and Vice-Chancellor of Germany from 2009 to 2011, being the first openly gay person ...

visited South Africa and called the relationship "excellent" and "a strategic partnership" in both economics and world affairs.

Trade

South Africa is Germany's largest trading partner in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

. Trade between the two countries is very sizable and worth a total of EUR 12.6 billion (2008). In 2010, Germany was South Africa's fourth largest trading partner after China, the United States and Japan, with trade totaling 35.478 million rand (3.718 million

Euro The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...

). South Africa continues to report massive trade deficits with Germany and recently South Africa's department of trade and industry brought this to the attention of the European union pending renegotiation of trade between the two nations.

Immigration

South Africa is home to a large number of people of German descent. In late February 2019, The Local reported that 36,000 South Africans were living i
Germany
Compared to South African communities in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

(14,530),

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

(117,225) and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

(13,500).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Germany-South Africa Relations Bilateral relations of South Africa