On September 5, Russia and South Africa observed 20 years since the signing of the Treaty on Friendship and Partnership. This was concluded in Cape Town in 2006 as part of the official visit by President Vladimir Putin. The treaty created a solid foundation for further strengthening bilateral cooperation.
In March 2023, the two countries signed the Joint Declaration on the Establishment of a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in Durban and went on to adopt a Joint Statement on Strategic Partnership in Johannesburg in July 2018 to update the 2013 Joint Declaration.
While the Treaty of Friendship and Partnership establishes a formal and legal foundation for long-term cooperation, it also honors the historical ties between Russia and South Africa. The historical ties refer to the Soviet’s political assistance and support during the struggle against apartheid. Following South Africa’s transition to democracy, both established diplomatic relations in February 1992.
The pact commits both sides to refraining from military-political alliances or actions directed against each other, ensuring stable political and diplomatic dialogue. The agreement promotes leveraging into multifaceted cooperation in the economic sectors. Until today, approaches to some issues and differences naturally exist between Russia and South Africa.
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Within the bilateral framework, President Vladimir Putin visited Cape Town in 2006, the first of a Russian leader to visit sub-Saharan Africa, which resulted in moving relations beyond basic diplomacy. Both Moscow and Pretoria share a mutual desire to reform global governance structures, support multilateralism, and champion a multipolar world.
Today, South Africa is one of the key countries on the African continent for Russia. Regular and trust-based contacts between the leaders of Russia and South Africa have had a guiding and defining role in unlocking the potential of the bilateral relations. The foreign ministers have been maintaining constructive dialogue, while interparliamentary and party-to-party ties, as well as ties in science, technology, and humanitarian affairs, have been gathering positive momentum.
The Mixed Intergovernmental Committee for Trade and Economic Cooperation, as well as the Business Council, serves as the main mechanism for enabling Russia and South Africa to step up their economic cooperation by steadily expanding trade and undertaking investment projects.
Moscow and Pretoria have been working closely within the United Nations, BRICS, and the Group of 20, which has made it possible for them to promote converging positions on key international and regional matters. Russia is committed to further strengthening relations with South Africa in all their aspects. Russia is transcontinental Eurasian power, while South Africa tries, as much as possible, to sustain the constitutional democracy shaped by its post-apartheid transition in 1994.
Russia and South Africa have major differences in size, geography, economy, and demographics, despite sharing diplomatic ties through BRICS. Both have an interplay of historical memory and a complex ideological solidarity. South Africa, with an estimated population of 60 million, sits on the southern tip of Africa. Russia has a much larger population, currently more than 140 million, and its huge territory spans Eastern Europe and Northern Asia.
