Early relations (right) with Free State Gen. Kolbe (left) during the
Second Boer War. A significant number of Russian nationals
volunteered to fight on the Boer side. In 1896, the
Transvaal Republic established diplomatic relations with Russia. The
Boer war was extensively covered by the Russian media and numerous books, articles, plays, pamphlets and poems were published about the war, usually with a pronounced pro-Boer slant. One Russian writer complained: "Wherever you go these days you hear the same story – the Boers, the Boers and only the Boers". The national anthem of the Transvaal
Transvaal, Transvaal, My Country was frequently played by Russian orchestras, numerous committees were founded to collect money for the Transvaal, and church services offered up prayers for a British defeat. In countless newspaper serials and novels, the men of the
kommandos were portrayed as heroes battling the arrogant British. Such was the popular enthusiasm that inns, restaurants, and cafés were given Afrikaans names and redecorated in the "Boer style" to improve business. The British historian
R.W. Johnson wrote: "Russian conservatives were pro-Boer not only for the usual nationalist, anti-British reasons but because they thought the Boers were like the best sort of Russians – conservative, rural, Christian folk resisting the invasion of their land by foreign (especially Jewish) capitalists." One Moscow newspaper in an editorial stated: "The deep historical meaning of this war is that faith, patriotism . . . the patriarchal family, primordial tribal unity, iron discipline and the complete lack of so-called modern civilisation have . . . become such an invincible force that even the seemingly invincible British have begun to tremble." However, though several hundred Russians did make their way to fight for the Transvaal, upon arriving they were often shocked by the corruption of the Transvaal government, its disorganized ways, and the casual brutality of the Afrikaners towards blacks.
Apartheid era Soviet Union and
South African Union established consular relations in 1942, but in 1956 South African Union severed them. After South Africa became a republic in 1961, relations were very cold. South Africa considered the Soviet Union an enemy because it financially and militarily supported communism on the African continent. During the
South African Border War, the Soviets supplied and trained
SWAPO and
MPLA fighters. However, by the late 1980s, Soviet interference in Africa minimized and relations between the two slightly warmed as the Cold War was ending. Despite the widely reported Soviet support for the
African National Congress and other
liberation movements, the Soviet Union also engaged in some trade with South Africa during the
apartheid era, mostly involving arms and some mineral resources. From 1960 to 1964,
De Beers had a unique arrangement to market Soviet diamonds from
Siberia. During the 1980s, a convoluted series of arms sales involving the
Stasi, the Danish ship
Pia Vesta, and
Manuel Noriega of
Panama ultimately aimed to transfer Soviet arms and military vehicles to South Africa. Around this time, the South African military's
Armscor had a team of experts working in
Leningrad involved in jet engine development. In 1993 the two countries signed trade agreements which was followed by the signing of a military cooperation agreement in 1995. The April 1999 visit to Russia by President
Nelson Mandela started a period of warming relations between the two countries. South Africa joined the
BRICS group of nations in 2010, a key foreign policy goal of the Zuma administration,
University of Cape Town academic, Sean Gossel, has stated that bilateral relations between the two countries strengthened the most during the "
State Capture years" between 2013 and 2017; thereby linking the growth of relations with the growth of
corruption in South Africa. who support Russia's stance challenging the hegemony of the
United States and what they see as a country that supports a global order based on
international law and respect for the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs. Then South African Finance Minister
Nhlanhla Nene gave testimony to the Zondo Commission that he was fired for not approving a US$100 billion version of the deal in 2015. The deal was canceled by court order in April 2017. and
Guardian newspapers reported that
Putin associate
Yevgeny Prigozhin worked to undermine support for the
Democratic Alliance and
Economic Freedom Fighters while increasing support for the ANC. The Daily Maverick and Dossier Center report stated that Russian political analysis worked "under the auspices of Africa and the International Anti-Crisis Center"
Russian invasion of Ukraine and South African President
Cyril Ramaphosa at the virtual
14th BRICS summit on 23 June 2022 In response to the 2014
annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, the Zuma administration avoided criticizing Russia, arguing instead for
BRICS members to unite in order to defend common interests of the group. However these statements were soon withdrawn and in an effort to repair Russian-South African relations. President Ramaphosa reportedly disciplined International Relations and Cooperation Minister
Naledi Pandor for making the statement on behalf of the government. Despite the invasion and resulting international diplomatic condemnation Russian-South Africa relations have reportedly remained strong, with
South Africa being one of 35 countries to abstain from a subsequent
United Nations vote demanding that Russia withdraw from Ukraine. and South African Foreign Minister
Naledi Pandor in
New York City on 22 September 2022 In response to public criticism by the South African media of the South African government's non-critical position towards Russia minister Pandor has postulated that the local media might be "part of orchestrated propaganda campaign" by presenting a "narrative which has tended to support the actions of the big powers." During the war Russian Defence Minister
Sergei Shoigu described South Africa as a "friendly state" and that South Africa's support has helped counter
NATO pressure on Russia. South Africa's Defense Minister
Thandi Modise visited Moscow in August 2022. and
Vyacheslav Volodin at the “Russia-Africa” parliamentary conference in Moscow on 17 March 2023 Reacting to the
ICC arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin, South African Foreign Minister
Naledi Pandor criticized the
International Criminal Court (ICC) for not having what she called an "evenhanded approach" to all leaders responsible for violations of international law. South Africa, which failed in its obligation to arrest visiting Sudanese President
Omar al-Bashir in June 2015, invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to the
15th BRICS Summit in South Africa in August 2023. As South Africa is a signatory to the
Rome Statute, the presence of Vladimir Putin remains uncertain. In May 2023,
South Africa announced that they would be giving diplomatic immunity to Vladimir Putin, his officials and other Russians while attending the
15th BRICS Summit. It is widely assumed this was an attempt to circumvent the ICC arrest warrant, despite the government's claim that such immunity was routinely granted ahead of international inter-governmental events of this magnitude. In July 2023, Vladimir Putin announced that he would not attend the summit of the BRICS group of emerging economies in South Africa in August and that Russia would instead be represented by its Foreign Minister
Sergei Lavrov.
Western Cape Premier
Alan Winde criticized the ruling
African National Congress (ANC) government for inviting Putin to South Africa and said that he would instruct the provincial Law Enforcement Advancement Plan (LEAP) officers to arrest Putin "if he sets foot in the Western Cape". South African minister
Khumbudzo Ntshavheni disputed Winde's words, saying that "If President Putin is in the country and he is protected by the presidential protection service, I don't know how Premier Winde, who does not have even policing functions, will get through the presidential protection service." On 23–26 January 2023, Russian Foreign Minister
Sergey Lavrov visited South Africa and several other African states. Pandor thanked Lavrov for the "most wonderful meeting" and described Russia as a "valued partner." In the early morning of December 6, 2022, a
sanctioned Russian cargo ship named
Lady R, which had turned off its marine tracking system, made an unexpected and controversial port call at the
Naval Base in Simon's Town. The ship was loaded and unloaded with cargo under armed guard during nighttime and departed three days later. The docking was shrouded in secrecy, and neither the South African nor Russian government commented on it, as noted by the media. Six months later
South Africa allowed the secretive landing of a US-sanctioned Russian cargo aircraft to land at the
Waterkloof Air Force Base. These actions further strained
South Africa's relationship with Western countries whilst increasing skepticism of South Africa's self-proclaimed non-aligned or neutral position on the war in Ukraine. On 16 May 2023, Ramaphosa announced that the leaders of African countries came up with a new
initiative for peace in Ukraine. In June 2023, Ramaphosa led a delegation to Russia and Ukraine, which also included heads of state from
Zambia, the
Republic of Congo,
Egypt and
Senegal. Both Russia and Ukraine welcomed the African leaders’ mission, but Ukrainian Foreign Minister
Dmytro Kuleba warned that "Any peace initiative should respect the territorial integrity of Ukraine, it should not imply, even in-between the lines, any cessation of Ukrainian territory to Russia. Second, any peace plan should not lead to the freezing of the conflict." leaders during the
15th BRICS Summit in Johannesburg, August 2023. Russia was represented by Foreign Minister Lavrov. On 17 June 2023, Ramaphosa met with Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg. He told Putin that the war must end, but Putin rejected the delegation's peace plan based on accepting Ukraine's internationally recognized
borders. In July 2023, Ramaphosa attended the
2023 Russia–Africa Summit in St. Petersburg.
African National Congress support for Russia South Africa's ruling political party since 1994, the ANC, has notably not condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine. A position which the ANC has received criticism for from opposition parties, public commentators, academics, civil society organisations, and former ANC members. The
ANC Youth League has meanwhile condemned
sanctions against Russia and denounced NATO's eastward expansion as "fascistic". Officials representing the ANC Youth League acted as international observers for Russia's
staged referendum to annex Ukrainian territory conquered during the war. In February 2024 ANC Secretary-General
Fikile Mbalula attended a "forum on combating Western neocolonialism" hosted by Russia, thereby drawing further criticism for the party's perceived support for Russia's invasion. The ANC has received large donations from the Putin-linked Russian oligarch
Viktor Vekselberg, whilst the party's investment arm, Chancellor House, has a joint investment with Vekselberg in a South African manganese mine. == Economic ties ==