Russia-South Africa Relations: It's Complicated

 The South African Institute of International Affairs recently posted a 16-minute podcast titled "South Africa and Russia: It's Complicated."

The Russia-China relationship generates uncomfortable headlines today.  It is based on the strong anti-apartheid position of the Soviet Union.  In addition, Vladimir Putin and former South African President Jacob Zuma solidified the ties.

Russia's invasion of Georgia, Crimea, and Ukraine complicated the relationship.  South Africa fell back on a policy of non-alignment.  By 2022, there was confusion in Pretoria concerning policy towards Russia.

Today, South Africa-Russia trade is negligible and Russian investment in the country is modest.  South Africa and Russia, both members of BRICS, agree on the need to revise the world order but not much else.  

South Africa Convinces Russia to Return Its Nationals Duped into Fighting in Ukraine

 Aljazeera published on 5 March 2026 an article titled "'Our Children Were Sold Off': The South Africans Sent to Fight Russia's War" by Chris Makhaye.  

Russia recruited South Africans to become VIP bodyguards who were then given brief military training and conscripted by a paramilitary group to fight in Ukraine.  Most of the South Africans became cannon fodder on the Russian front lines. An appeal by South Africa's president to Vladimir Putin managed to get their return to their families.   

Russia Struggles to Build Influence in South Africa

The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace published on 16 December 2019 a study titled "Nuclear Enrichment: Russia's Ill-fated Influence Campaign in South Africa" by Andrew S. Weiss, Carnegie Endowment, and Eugene Rumer, Carnegie Endowment and former US intelligence officer for Russia and Eurasia.

The authors argue that Russia today offers little in the way of practical assistance for helping South Africa, which has less than one percent of its trade with Russia. Moscow's close relations with former South African President Jacob Zuma, a Soviet-trained intelligence operative, resulted in an ill-fated nuclear power deal and was based on corruption. This relationship has been largely reversed by South Africa's strong civil society and system of checks and balances.

South Africa-China Relations

The Centre for Chinese Studies (CCS) at Stellenbosch University published on 10 December 2014 a commentary titled "South Africa-China Relations: Time to Move from Pledges to Tangible Outcomes" by Yejoo Kim, a research fellow at CCS.

The author noted South Africa's trade deficit with China continues to grow and remains largely based on the export of raw materials to China and import of manufactured goods from China.  She added that while there have been many pledges to change the relationship, which is well cemented, "it is now time to direct this relationship in favour of South Africa."

South Africa Pushes China to Support Regional Integration

The Institute for Security Studies in South Africa published on 18 December 2014 a commentary titled "SA Tries to Change China's Relations with Pretoria and Africa" by Peter Fabricius, foreign editor of Independent Newspapers.

While questioning whether South Africa will benefit equally from its current bilateral relationship with China, Fabricius argues that Jacob Zuma is encouraging China to build fewer national stadiums and more highways and bridges connecting African countries in an effort to enhance African regional integration.

Chinese vice president visits South Africa

The Voice of America Chinese service asked me to comment today on the three-day visit to South Africa by Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping.

I explained that this was a follow-up to the visit earlier this year to China by South African President Jacob Zuma, who took a delegation of 13 cabinet ministers and 370 business representatives with him.

The two countries on that occasion signed a “comprehensive strategic partnership” that outlined 38 bilateral cooperation agreements. The visit is an effort to continue the strategic partnership and underscores the strong ties between China and South Africa.

When asked to comment on China’s overall interaction with Africa, I noted that China brings more positive than negative qualities to the relationship. China serves as an important alternative trade partner and source of investment and aid for African countries.

The most negative aspect of the relationship concerns the trade relationship. China buys mostly oil and minerals from Africa, while it sells primarily value added manufactured goods which often undercut products manufactured in Africa.

Much of the African textile industry, for example, has had to shut down because of cheaper imports from countries such as China, India and Pakistan. There are also cases where Chinese companies have not paid sufficient attention to worker safety and local labor laws. China appears, however, to be aware of these concerns and is trying to do better.

Photo: Xi Jinping in New Zealand last June. Creative commons licensed on Flickr by user nznationalparty.Photo credit: Luci Harrison Photography.