Philippines–South Africa relations refers to bilateral relations between the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

and

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

. Relations were established in November 1993, with the Philippines maintaining an embassy in

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

and South Africa having an embassy in

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

. Relations between the two states remains strong on both bilateral and multilateral levels, and the most influential in some international organisations including the

Non-Aligned Movement The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) is a forum of 120 countries that are not formally aligned with or against any major power bloc. After the United Nations, it is the largest grouping of states worldwide. The movement originated in the aftermath o ...

and the Group of 77.

Economic ties

South Africa is the largest trading partner of the Philippines in Africa and the Philippines ranked South Africa as its 36th largest trading partner in 2008. The visit to Manila by Nelson Mandela, the first black

South African President The president of South Africa is the head of state and head of government of the Republic of South Africa. The president heads the executive branch of the Government of South Africa and is the commander-in-chief of the South African Natio ...

and anti-

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 ...

icon in March 1997, led to the ratification of the Philippines-South Africa Trade Agreement in 2002.

Filipino diaspora

There are about 1,890

Overseas Filipino An overseas Filipino ( fil, Pilipino sa ibayong-dagat) is a person of full or partial Filipino origin—i.e., people who trace back their ancestry to the Philippines but living or residing outside the country. This term generally applies to b ...

s stationed in South Africa, most of them working in the garments and packaging industries, with a minority in the professional sector. Some Filipinos have also intermarried with South Africans and other nationals living in the country. Many Filipinos have migrated to South Africa to also work in the

fishing industry The fishing industry includes any industry or activity concerned with taking, culturing, processing, preserving, storing, transporting, marketing or selling fish or fish products. It is defined by the Food and Agriculture Organization as including ...

, in the health care industry, as skilled workers, or as

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the limit ...

s. In August 2008, the

Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA; fil, Kagawaran ng Ugnayang Panlabas) is the executive department of the Philippine government tasked to contribute to the enhancement of national security, protection of the territorial integrity and ...

set up the ''Muntíng Páaralan'' ("Little School") at the Philippine Embassy in Pretoria, where fourteen Filipino children are enrolled for bimonthly classes. In 2011, Filipinos in South Africa sent over

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

6.1 million in remittances back to the Philippines, the largest amount from any African country in 2011.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Philippines-South Africa relations

Bilateral relations of South Africa