South Africa and the UK have a difficult but shared history, which is reflected in their contemporary relationship with points of antagonism but also of cooperation. With new governments in both South Africa and the UK, and the Minister for International Relations and Cooperation visiting London this week, there is an opportunity for deepening the relationship between the two countries, even if they don’t agree on everything, argues Christopher Vandome.
This week the new South African Minister for International Relations and Cooperation, Ronald Lamola, will be visiting London. The UK-South Africa connection is important for both countries, especially for business and people to people relations. The political relationship has been at times strained in recent years, in particular over difference of opinion on the war in Ukraine and Israel-Gaza. But with new administrations in place in London and Pretoria it is time to increase mutually beneficial engagement and recognise that it is possible to sometimes disagree with each other and build on the often difficult but deeply significant shared history.
A shared time zone, easy travel access, common language, similar sporting culture, and high skill base make SA a very attractive destination for UK companies.
Two important trading partners
In raw numbers, the UK-SA corridor provided £21.5 billion of FDI from the UK to SA in 2021, an increase of 11.9 per cent on the year before, and £7.9 billion of FDI from South Africa into the UK, an increase of 17.3 per cent on the year before, according to UK government figures released in 2024. South Africa is the UK’s 28th largest trade partner, and the UK is South Africa’s 5th largest export destination, accounting for around 5 percent of exports. The UK also has an impressive 17.4 percent market share in service industries in South Africa. South Africa has a very well developed legal and financial system, and a robust business environment, with many large and well-functioning companies despite the challenges and energy shortages. A shared time zone, easy travel access, common language, similar sporting culture, and high skill base make SA a very attractive destination for UK companies. There are also a number of prominent South African companies in the UK – including Anglo American, Bidvest, Investec, Nando’s, and others – and a large number of South Africans working in the health service.
South Africa’s desire to play a more prominent role on issues where it feels it has moral leadership have at times placed it at odds with UK positions.
Foreign policy competitors or partners?
The economics are certainly significant. But it is what South Africa is trying to represent in the world that makes it such an important, and currently undervalued, partner for the UK. It is a middle power that is seeking reform of the international system in a constructive manner based on equality and a firm commitment to multilateralism. In its post-apartheid foreign policy, South Africa has notably served three terms on the UN Security Council, advocated for the expansion of BRICS, and will be the first African host of the G20 in 2025. The aspiration to be a leading voice in a changing world and its experience and future plans for global convening means that South Africa cannot be ignored.
The highly contested May election in South Africa has resulted in a government of national unity. It is likely that the new administration will be more focussed on domestic issues than international relations.
South Africa’s desire to play a more prominent role on issues where it feels it has moral leadership have at times placed it at odds with UK positions. South Africa felt that it played a key role in bringing together the African peace initiative for Ukraine, and the success of its legal team in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) bringing a case against Israel was celebrated by citizens. It was also an issue on which the new Minister played an important role. The UK is unlikely to find traction on these subjects. However, there are other areas where the UK can better cooperate and celebrate South Africa’s global role – including its track two work as one of many interlocutors in the conflict in Sudan, its role in DRC, and the success of the Pretoria process in bringing a cessation of hostilities to the conflict in Northern Ethiopia.
The highly contested May election in South Africa has resulted in a government of national unity. It is likely that the new administration will be more focussed on domestic issues than international relations. Not least given the contrary foreign policy positions of the parties – although there is broad agreement in favour of a ceasefire in Gaza. The appointment of Ronald Lamola as Minister of International Relations and Cooperation has been widely welcomed and seen as a potential move towards a more pragmatic policy position.
This means that the UK will need to be more strategic in its approach. It will need to strengthen diplomatic frameworks and institutional relationships to ensure that there are regular engagements around areas of mutual interest. How this can be achieved and what issues should be prioritised was the topic of a recent discussion at Chatham House on “Thirty Years of South African Foreign Policy and UK Relations” held in partnership with the British International Studies Association (BISA).
The bilateral relationship received a boost in 2019 when President Cyril Ramaphosa undertook a state visit in November 2022. The two governments agreed eight new partnerships across health, science, green energy technology, and economic cooperation and a working partnership on minerals for future clean energy technologies and the energy transition. However, since then it has been unclear what progress has been made on the partnerships. In October 2023 the UK committed R20 million for research on critical minerals in Africa. This was announced in Cape Town by the UK high commissioner to South Africa who had championed the initiative.
But with seemingly limited interest from Whitehall and criticism that the money ended up with international consulting firm Boston Consulting Group, it seemed like a missed opportunity. Earlier that year in May, UK Minister for Africa Andrew Mitchell visited Pretoria and met with his counterpart, Deputy Minster for International Relations and Cooperation Alvin Botes. However, Mitchell chose to use the meeting primarily to lobby the South Africans on the forthcoming election in Zimbabwe, rather than on the UK-SA relationship. Another missed opportunity.
The role of individuals and inter-personal relationships is important, but it needs to be reinforced by more consistent frameworks and not replace them.
Bilateral relations between South Africa and the United Kingdom are supposed to be managed through the Bilateral Forum, which was established in 1997. South Africa has several bi-lateral forums and commissions and uses these frameworks as a standard way of managing its international relations. For the UK, such fora are rare and the forum with South Africa was the first in Africa, and still one of only two on the continent. Yet it is underutilised as a strategic tool. The last forum was held in 2021, and that was the first for six years. A planned forum in 2023 was postponed due to political disagreement on Israel-Gaza and the ICJ case. This falls far short of the mutually agreed intention to host them every two years at the level of foreign minister. The framework is an important means of engaging across multiple departments and on various issues and serves to de-personalise the relationship.
The importance of institutional relationships
The role of individuals and inter-personal relationships is important, but it needs to be reinforced by more consistent frameworks and not replace them. Since 2012 there has been a Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy for South Africa who carries the seniority of minister when they visit South Africa. They have been tasked with doubling bi-lateral trade, but achieving this target has proven difficult. There have also been very constructive inter-personal relations at ministerial level. Former South Africa foreign minister Naledi Pandor reputedly had good relations with former UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, including through WhatsApp exchanges on key issues. Such interpersonal connections are vital, but need to be part of a wider level of connection to retain institutional memory and not get lost once there is ministerial change.
The respective Parliaments and inter-parliamentary relations are an important channel for dialogue. Parliaments are by design a place for debate and discussion of differing views. There was a very strong link between the UK and South Africa parliaments after the first democratic elections in 1994, but that slowly dissipated over time. During COVID, British parliamentarians felt that there was a need for a new All Party Parliamentary Group on South Africa, especially given the impact that UK travel restrictions were having on the South African tourism industry.
Since then, the APPG has become an important means for communication between South Africa and the UK, with the South African High Commissioner to the UK having address the group and other MPs on several issues including South African military exercises with Russia. Despite disagreement, it has become an important channel for dialogue. The UK parliament is also become a place for friends of South Africa to raise pressing issues, including Lord Hain’s criticism of the consulting firm Bain’s role in state capture in South Africa, which led to a freeze on their UK government business; and Lord Oates raising issues on Visas.
A reappraisal of the visa regime and a transparent statement on whether these security challenges remain would be an important step in improving relations.
The asymmetry on visa requirements is a major hurdle for the bilateral relationship. British passport holders can get a stamp on arrival into South Africa for 90 days. South Africans wishing to enter the UK must apply for a visa through a slow and costly process, the outsourcing of which has led to huge frustration for South Africans and for British businesses and organisations. The current visa regime was imposed in response to weaknesses in the passport application process in South Africa that led to significant security threats. However, the UK has been a key-partners in improving these processes and making systems more secure. A reappraisal of the visa regime and a transparent statement on whether these security challenges remain would be an important step in improving relations.
Informal economic activity is twice the size of the formal economy, with 3.3 million informal businesses.
The climate economy and the language of diplomacy
Other key areas of attention for the UK in South Africa should be climate finance and providing support into SMEs and areas of the economy that have been previously underserved by the large financial institutions. South Africa was the first recipient of a Just Energy Transition Partnership (JET-P), into which the UK is a contributor. But much of the committed finance is debt rather than grants, and funds taking time to be released due to technocratic and political factors. The great majority of the people in South Africa are living in a less developed economy. Informal economic activity is twice the size of the formal economy, with 3.3 million informal businesses. Many of these do not have access to capital access to markets or to mentoring. This is an area where the UK DFI, British Investment International (BII) has started to place more attention, and more can be done to encourage venture capital firms into this space. A more visible UK presence in supporting livelihoods in these areas would help in landing broader political messages on friendship and alliance.
The language of nonalignment or alignment is inherited from a cold war period but serves limited use in today’s evolving multipolar world.
The Chatham House event highlighted and showcased the breadth and depth of the organisations involved in the UK South Africa relationship. Including the respective foreign ministries and diplomatic corps, universities and the British International Studies Association, businesses, parliamentarians, and specific organisations such as the SA-UK Chamber of Commerce, and Action for Southern Africa (ACTSA), which is the successor to the Anti-Apartheid movement and which continues to play a leading role. The event concluded with a reflection on the language of diplomacy and engagement. The language of nonalignment or alignment is inherited from a cold war period but serves limited use in today’s evolving multipolar world. States no longer have a choice of alignment, especially given the rise in importance and activity of non-state actors and multinational companies. Even where countries disagree on some issues, they will need to cooperate on others. It is in that context that the UK mist view its important relationship with South Africa and cooperate on areas of mutual interest and shared values in a robust manner guided by frameworks and institutions, not personalities and politics.
All articles posted on this blog give the views of the author(s), and not the position of LSE British Politics and Policy, nor of the London School of Economics and Political Science.
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