Welcome Message
Thank you for visiting the official website of the South African High Commission in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (UK). Whether you are planning to visit South Africa, are keen to pursue economic interests in South Africa or are interested in the activities of the High Commission, we hope that you find the information useful.
Placing humanity at the centre of all of our activities, in particular the provision of service to our clients, the High Commission staff subscribes to “Batho Pele” (Putting People First) and to the principles of “Ubuntu.” These are reflective of the values that a democratic South Africa upholds, as we seek to create a better South Africa for all who live in it. The High Commission in the UK serves to contribute to the creation of a better South Africa through its engagement with the government and people of the United Kingdom.
South Africa’s democracy is a robust one. While we acknowledge that we have many challenges, we are not defined by it and therefore, we endeavour to constantly highlight the successes we have achieved, as a relatively young democratic nation.
South Africa remains a premier tourism destination characterised by youthfulness, beautiful wildlife, pristine beaches and breath-taking scenery, vibrant cultural and heritage offerings, unique cuisine, exciting adventure, an amazing climate and, a people collectively invested in providing you with your best experience yet.
South Africa is also open for business! As an emerging market economy, we boast world-class infrastructure, a highly developed and sophisticated banking system, an independent judiciary, the largest ports on the African continent and, our greatest asset – our highly resourceful people – who are ready to get to work and get the job done.
Latest News
Memorial Service for Lord Bob Hughes held at South Africa House
A memorial service for Lord Bob Hughes of Woodside, former Chair of the Anti-Apartheid Movement (AAM) from 1976 to 1995, was held at South Africa House last night, organised by ACTSA, the successor body to the AAM.
SS Mendi 105th Anniversary in Portsmouth
The South African High Commission, led by Deputy High Commissioner Charmaine Fredericks, participated in the SS Mendi 105th Anniversary in Portsmouth on 21 February 2022.
The sinking of the SS Mendi was caused by the reckless action of the captain of the SS Darro. It remains the greatest ever wartime disaster suffered by South Africa. During the First World War, there was a shortage of labourers, which, despite the draft, caused delays in moving supplies from the rear to the front lines. SS Mendi was transporting 823 men and officers of the fifth Battalion of the Native Labour Corps from Cape Town to Le Havre, via Lagos and Plymouth.
On 21 February 1917, a large cargo steamship, Darro, collided with the SS Mendi in the English Channel south of the Isle of Wight. Mendi sank killing 646 people, most of whom were black South African troops.
This tragedy is commemorated every year on 21 February.
Video Tribute to Ambassador Lindiwe Mabuza
Featuring: HE Nomatemba Tambo, The Rt Hon the Lord David Steel of Aikwood, Richard Stone, The Rt Hon the Lord Paul & Lady Janet Boateng, Teddy Coleman, John Battersby, Lela Kogbara, Brian Filling, Zeinab Badawi, Tony Dykes, The Rt Hon the Lord Peter Hain, Anne Page & Adam Glasser. Archive performances from: Tessa Uys, Sir Antony Sher, Dame Janet Suzman, Pumeza Matshikiza & Nicola Emmanuelle.
Memorial Service for Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu and Ambassador Lindiwe Mabuza
A Memorial Service for Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu and Ambassador Lindiwe Mabuza will be held at St Martin-in-the-Fields (Trafalgar Square, London WC2N 4JH) on Monday 21 February, 2.00 pm.
The service, which is being organised with the South African High Commission, will include tributes to the Archbishop Emeritus and the Ambassador from those who knew them, an Address from Revd Dr Sam Wells, Vicar of St Martin-in-the-Fields, personal memories from Clive Conway, Chair of Tutu Foundation UK, Professor Chris Mullard, Honorary Consul, and music from St Martin’s Voices. Refreshments at South Africa House will follow the service.
South Africa House mourns the loss of Ambassador Lindiwe Mabuza
News of the passing of Ambassador Lindiwe Mabuza, who was the South African High Commissioner to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from 2001 to 2010, has been greeted with great sadness by all at South Africa House.
Family spokespersons, Mavuso Msimang and Lindiwe Sangweni-Siddo, announced yesterday afternoon that Ambassador Lindiwe Mabuza had “passed away peacefully this afternoon, Monday 06 December 2021, in the loving company of her family.”
We extend our deepest condolences to her family and to her numerous friends and colleagues in South Africa, the UK, and around the world. She will be fondly remembered and deeply missed.
Dr Lindiwe Mabuza was appointed High Commissioner to the UK by President Thabo Mbeki in 2001, having already served as Ambassador to Germany and to Malaysia and The Philippines, and prior to that as an MP in President Nelson Mandela’s first government in 1994. Her diplomatic career began in 1979 when Oliver Tambo appointed her as the ANC’s representative to Scandinavia, where she survived a bomb attack on the ANC offices in Stockholm, before being transferred to the USA where she opened an ANC office in Washington DC. Long before coming to the UK, Ambassador Mabuza had established a reputation as a distinguished and formidable diplomat whose passion for her country, its people, culture and economic transformation, shone brightly.
During her double tenure as South African High Commissioner to the UK Ambassador Mabuza was responsible for many notable achievements, too numerous to list comprehensively, but some prominent highlights include the Solidarity Conference in 2003, which brought together 1,300 delegates and a third of the South African cabinet over a weekend at the QEII Conference Centre in Westminster, to account for the new South African Government’s first decade in office and to look forward to the decade ahead.
2004 marked the 10th […]