Portugal – South Africa relations refer to the current and historical relationship between

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

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 ...

. Nowadays the two countries have solid relations, with South Africa representing a major partner for Portugal amongst AU members. South Africa has an

Embassy A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually den ...

in Lisbon. It also has Honorary Consulates in

Porto Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropol ...

and

Funchal Funchal () is the largest city, the municipal seat and the capital of Portugal's Autonomous Region of Madeira, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean. The city has a population of 105,795, making it the sixth largest city in Portugal. Because of its high ...

, Madeira. Portugal has an

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 ...

. In addition, there are Consulates-General 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 Dem ...

and

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 ...

, and Honorary Consulates in

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

, Port Elizabeth and

Welkom Welkom () is the second-largest city in the Free State province of South Africa, located about northeast of Bloemfontein which is the provincial capital. Welkom is also known as Circle City, City Within A Garden, Mvela and Matjhabeng. The ci ...

History

Exploration

Early

explorers Exploration refers to the historical practice of discovering remote lands. It is studied by geographers and historians. Two major eras of exploration occurred in human history: one of convergence, and one of divergence. The first, covering most ...

had set out with one purpose in mind, which was to discover a new sea route to the Orient. It is unlikely that they had any idea of achieving anything more than discovering and opening new channels of trade and commerce for Portugal. Furthermore, they were probably discouraged from any attempt to penetrate the interior of the country or to form settlements along the coast by the inhospitable terrain and by the hostile and warlike disposition of the native inhabitants. One of the biggest clashes between Portuguese and South African natives occurred in 1510;

Francisco de Almeida Dom Francisco de Almeida (), also known as the Great Dom Francisco (c. 1450 – 1 March 1510), was a Portuguese nobleman, soldier and explorer. He distinguished himself as a counsellor to King John II of Portugal and later in the wars against ...

, first viceroy of the Portuguese possessions in the East, was assassinated along with sixty-four of his men on the shores of Table Bay following a dispute with the

Khoikhoi Khoekhoen (singular Khoekhoe) (or Khoikhoi in the former orthography; formerly also '' Hottentots''"Hottentot, n. and adj." ''OED Online'', Oxford University Press, March 2018, www.oed.com/view/Entry/88829. Accessed 13 May 2018. Citing G. S. ...

near Treaty Tree. The

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

explored the coasts of

from the late 15th century, and nominally claimed them as their own with the erecting of '' padrões'' (large stone cross inscribed with the

coat of arms of Portugal The coat of arms of Portugal is the main heraldic insignia of Portugal. The present model was officially adopted on 30 June 1911, along with the present model of the Flag of Portugal. It is based on the coat of arms used by the Portuguese King ...

placed there as part of a

land claim A land claim is defined as "the pursuit of recognized territorial ownership by a group or individual". The phrase is usually only used with respect to disputed or unresolved land claims. Some types of land claims include aboriginal land claims, A ...

). Bartolomeu Dias did so in 1486, erecting the first Western-style monument in today's South Africa. In 1497 Vasco da Gama, en route to

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, recorded a sighting of the Cape of Good Hope(''Cabo da Boa Esperança'') because of the optimism the Portuguese crown stored on the new trade route.

Apartheid

South Africa had close relations with Portugal, particularly during the time that

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

and

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

were

Portuguese colonies The Portuguese Empire ( pt, Império Português), also known as the Portuguese Overseas (''Ultramar Português'') or the Portuguese Colonial Empire (''Império Colonial Português''), was composed of the overseas colonies, factories, and the l ...

. South Africa under

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 ...

was ruled by the National Party, which shared common ground with the anti-communist '' Estado Novo'' regime of

António de Oliveira Salazar António de Oliveira Salazar (, , ; 28 April 1889 – 27 July 1970) was a Portuguese dictator who served as President of the Council of Ministers from 1932 to 1968. Having come to power under the ("National Dictatorship"), he reframed the r ...

in Portugal. Following

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

's decision to grant independence to its

colonies In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the '' metropolitan state'' ...

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 ...

, the government of

Hendrik Verwoerd Hendrik Frensch Verwoerd (; 8 September 1901 – 6 September 1966) was a South African politician, a scholar of applied psychology and sociology, and chief editor of '' Die Transvaler'' newspaper. He is commonly regarded as the architect ...

feared that the newly independent states would fall under the influence of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

, and from 1961 onwards, there were frequent meetings of South African and Portuguese intelligence operatives as well as visits of South African politicians to Portuguese-ruled Angola and

. It was in this scenario that the

Alcora Exercise Alcora Exercise ( pt, Exercício Alcora, af, Alcora Oefening) or simply Alcora was a secret military alliance between South Africa, Portugal, and Rhodesia, formally in force between 1970 and 1974. The code name "Alcora" being an acronym for " ...

(acronym for "''Aliança Contra as Rebeliões em Africa''" or "Alliance against the rebellions in Africa"), a pact between Rhodesia, Portugal and South Africa, was established in 1970. Following the Carnation Revolution, in 1974, the alliance was dismantled.

Portuguese Heritage in South Africa

The Portuguese have left many vestiges dating back to the

Age of Discovery The Age of Discovery (or the Age of Exploration), also known as the early modern period, was a period largely overlapping with the Age of Sail, approximately from the 15th century to the 17th century in European history, during which seafarin ...

. In

Mossel Bay Mossel Bay ( af, Mosselbaai) is a harbour town of about 99,000 people on the Southern Cape (or Garden Route) of South Africa. It is an important tourism and farming region of the Western Cape Province. Mossel Bay lies 400 kilometres east of the ...

(named by Dias "''Angra dos Vaqueiro''s" or Herder's bay) there is a Museum dedicated to Bartolomeu Dias ( Bartolomeu Dias Museum Complex),. The museum was erected where the famous

Post Office Tree The Post Office Tree (Afrikaans: ''Poskantoorboom'') is a famous milkwood tree (''Sideroxylon inerme'') in Mosselbay, South Africa that was used by early Portuguese explorers as a post office. It is located in the grounds of the Bartholomeu Dias ...

, used by the Portuguese to exchange messages, stands. Moreover, it is in this very city that, a few years after Dias' expedition, the first Christian shrine in South Africa was built by

João da Nova João da Nova ( gl, Xoán de Novoa, Joam de Nôvoa; es, Juan de Nova; ; born c. 1460 in Maceda, Ourense, Galicia; died July 16, 1509 in Kochi, India) was a Portuguese-Galician explorer of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans at the service of Portuga ...

's crew. It is noteworthy that there are still many toponyms of Portuguese origin in South Africa, such as Algoa Bay (from ''Bahia de Lagoa'' or "Bay of the Lagoon"), St Croix Island (from ''Ilha da Santa Cruz'' or "Saint Cross Island"),

Cape Agulhas Cape Agulhas (; pt, Cabo das Agulhas , "Cape of the Needles") is a rocky headland in Western Cape, South Africa. It is the geographic southern tip of the African continent and the beginning of the dividing line between the Atlantic and Indian ...

(from ''Cabo das Agulhas'' or "Cape of Needles"- the southern tip of continental Africa) and, Cape Voltas (or "Turning Cape"), Cape Recife (''Cabo de Recife or'' "Cape of the reefs"), Infanta (named after João Infante), Machadodorp, and Saldanha (named after António de Saldanha, captain of a vessel in Albuquerque's fleet which visited South Africa in 1503). In addition, KwaZulu-Natal province - the second most populated of the country - still retains the Portuguese origin of its name, being where Gama, travelling to India, landed on Christmas, 1497. Due to the extensive travels of Portuguese eplorers in the 15th-16th centuries, the South African coast and its valuable historical heritage is considered one of the richest places in the world for studying the travels of the Portuguese in the early Age of Discovery.

Immigration

Portuguese in South Africa The early 20th century witnessed a trickle of emigrants from Madeira whose numbers greatly increased in the decades following

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 opposing ...

. Madeiran immigrants, who are traditionally associated with horticulture and commerce, form the largest group within South Africa's Portuguese community. The largest influx of Portuguese in South Africa occurred when Angola and Mozambique became independent in 1975. While most Portuguese from the two former colonies either settled in Portugal or

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, some of them were allowed to enter South Africa. Despite the number of Portuguese nationals having registered their residence in South Africa within the Portuguese authorities stands at 108,254 in 2021, some estimates put that number as high as 450,000. The discrepancy in numbers is due to the fact of not being mandatory, for Portuguese citizens, to register with Portuguese consulates abroad. On the other hand, South African authorities estimate that up to 700,000 people (including descendants) living in South Africa are of Portuguese ancestry. South Africans in Portugal There has also been a growing number of

South Africans The population of South Africa is about 58.8 million people of diverse origins, cultures, languages, and religions. The South African National Census of 2022 was the most recent census held; the next will be in 2032. In 2011, Statistics South ...

buying property in Portugal order to gain residence and retire there and be able to travel within the Schengen area. As of 2021, according to the Portuguese National Census, there were 12,499 South African born people residing in Portugal.

Economy

With a bilateral trade valued at 400 Million euros as of 2021, Portugal is a relevant trade partner for South Africa in Europe. Moreover, the two countries have signed a convention for the avoidance of double taxation in 2008.

Air links

There have been no direct flights between the two countries since

TAP Portugal TAP Air Portugal is the currently state-owned flag carrier airline of Portugal, headquartered at Lisbon Airport which also serves as its hub. TAP – Transportes Aéreos Portugueses – has been a member of the Star Alliance since 2005 and opera ...

ended services between Lisbon and

in 2011. South African Airways, which has also discontinued flights between the two countries, used to fly to

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

and

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the ...

via Lisbon, as it was banned from entering the airspace of

n countries opposed to its

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 ...

policies. Both airlines are now members of

Star Alliance Star Alliance is the world's largest global airline alliance. Founded on 14 May 1997, its CEO is Jeffrey Goh and its headquarters is located in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. , Star Alliance is the largest of the three global alliances by passenge ...

, and operate code share flights.SAA and TAP to further expand code share
South African Airways, 7 March 2012

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:South Africa-Portugal relations

Bilateral relations of Portugal