History of bilateral relations
After Kazakhstan gained its independence on 16 December 1991, South Africa was one of the first to recognize our state, thereby emphasizing its genuine interest to establish and develop as an independent entity in the system of international relations. Based on the modern history of the two states, 5 March 1992 - the date when our diplomatic relations were officially established, is the beginning of the Kazakh-South African cooperation.
A milestone event in the development of bilateral relations was the opening of the Embassy of South Africa in the Republic of Kazakhstan in December 2003 in Almaty. In February 2008, it was relocated to the young capital of Kazakhstan – Astana city (Nur-Sultan now), coincided with its 10th Anniversary. In December 2016, H.E. Ms. Kiitumetsi Siipelo Tandeka Matthews was appointed the Ambassador of South Africa to Kazakhstan.
The Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan in South Africa was opened in December 2013, the only diplomatic mission of Kazakhstan in the vast region of Southern Africa.
The first Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Kazakhstan to South Africa was the Kazakhstani statesman, diplomat H.E. Mr. Talgat G. Kaliyev. He held this high post in 2014-2019.
On 12 July 2019, H.E. Mr. Kanat K. Tumysh was appointed as the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Kazakhstan to South Africa. He presented his Letter of Credence to H.E. Mr. Cyril Ramaphosa, President of South Africa on 15 October 2019.
On 11 January 2023 by the Decree of the Head of State, H.E. Mr. Yerkin K. Akhinzhanov was appointed as the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the Republic of South Africa
Political Dialogue
Over the years of independence, Kazakh-South African relations have been developed steadily and dynamically, while important issues are being consistently promoted in the economic, political, military-technical, humanitarian (including educational, scientific, cultural) and other fields.
The first official contacts between the two countries took place in March 1993, during the visit of the Kazakh delegation led by H.E. Mr. Syzdyk Abishev, Minister of External Economic Relations of the Republic of Kazakhstan to South Africa, during which the ways of establishing bilateral trade and economic relations were discussed.
H.E. Mr. Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, when he was the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan, in the fall of 1997, paid an official visit to South Africa and held important official talks with H.E. Mr. Nelson Mandela, First President of South Africa and a number of members of his Cabinet.
With the onset of the new millennium, the modern Kazakh-South African relations in the main approaches to ensuring regional and global security, as well as combating new and traditional challenges and threats, continue to be close to each other or coincide. This creates further conditions for close cooperation between the two countries within the UN and other international organizations.
Mutual visits at the highest and high levels gave impetus to the development of bilateral contacts in many areas of interaction.
H.E. Mr. Nursultan Nazarbayev, First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Leader of the Nation (Elbasy), has played a historical role in building interstate relations between the two countries. He made His Excellency’s first visit to the Republic of South Africa in August-September 2002, while attending the UN Conference on the Environment and Sustainable Development (Earth Summit). This top-level visit marked the beginning of the new stage of enhancing cooperation between two countries.
In turn, a high-level visit of the South African leadership to Kazakhstan was made in December 2008, when H.E. Mr. Jacob Zuma, President of the African National Congress (ANC), South African ruling party, (afterwards, between May 2009 and February 2018, he was the Fourth President of South Africa), made his official trip to the country. During the visit, H.E. Mr. Nursultan Nazarbayev, President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, received him at his Almaty residence. He has underlined the importance of signing bilateral intergovernmental agreements subsequently. At this meeting, ANC President Zuma, noted: “The two countries have much in common. We see from the outside that you have shown genuine leadership in the difficult years for your country. Essentially speaking, you were able to create all the conditions for maintaining and strengthening interethnic harmony in Kazakhstani society. This is a very important experience for us. We also know that you have your own unique vision, which made it possible to ensure the successful economic development of the country and the implementation of appropriate reforms”. He praised the successes achieved by the country during the years of independence under the direct leadership of the Kazakhstani First President. H.E. Mr. Jacob Zuma also expressed his intention to deepen relations between South Africa and Kazakhstan in all areas, as well as to establish close cooperation between the South African ruling party ANC and Kazakhstani ruling party "Nur Otan" (currently "AMANAT").
It was then, in the first decade of the 2000s, that a solid legal framework for the cooperation of two countries was laid. Hence, it continues to determine the positive direction and high dynamics of Kazakh-South African relations.
In July 2007, a delegation of Kazakhstan led by H.E. Mr. Galym Orazbakov, Minister of Industry and Trade, visited South African capital Pretoria and Johannesburg, the largest financial centre of the country. During the visit, the leadership of the Republic of South Africa received the head of the Kazakhstani delegation in Pretoria. He subsequently held talks in the capital with various departments (ministries) of the Government. In Johannesburg, he met with the top managers of the leading South African companies and participated in the Round Table with the country’s business communities.
The Republic of Kazakhstan and the Republic of South Africa concluded two documents that form bilateral contractual legal framework – the“Protocol between the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Government of South Africa on Consultations through the foreign offices” (signed in Pretoria on 22 July 2007) and the “Memorandum of Cooperation between the Chambers of Commerce and Industry of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Republic of South Africa” (signed in Johannesburg on 18 July 2007).
On 10 November 2011, H.E. Mr. Ebrahim Ebrahim, Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation of South Africa, received in Johannesburg the delegation of Kazakhstan led by H.E. Mr. Rapil Zhoshybayev, Executive Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan. As the outcomes of the meeting, South Africa supported the Kazakhstani capital’s candidacy during the election of the venue for EXPO-2017.
On 29 October 2012, H.E. Mr. Kairat Sarybay, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan during his working visit to South Africa, which held from 26 to 29 October, was received in Pretoria by H.E. Mr. Jacob Zuma, President of South Africa.
In mid-December 2013, H.E. Mr. Askar Mussinov, Executive Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan, visited South Africa to attend the State Funeral Ceremony for the late H.E. Mr. Nelson Mandela, First President of the Republic of South Africa.
Structural bilateral meetings remain vital in insuring that partner countries regularly review the framework of their relationship and identify new areas of cooperation. In this regard, seven rounds of Inter-Governmental Consultation, i.e. regular Political Consultation between the Foreign Offices, took place to the date:
I – 28 September 2010 (Pretoria; the delegation of Kazakhstan, headed by H.E. Mr. Kairat Sarybay, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan, was received in South Africa by H.E. Mr. Ebrahim Ebrahim, Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation of South Africa). During the consultations, the parties exchanged views on the issues of their cooperation within the framework of international and regional organizations. The South African side particularly praised the active and important role of Kazakhstan as the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, noting the Organization’s upcoming Seventh Summit in Nur-Sultan in December 2010, as well as consistent implementation of the significant Kazakhstani global and regional initiatives;
II – 3 May 2012 (Astana; the delegation of South Africa, headed by H.E. Mr. Ebrahim Ebrahim, Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation of South Africa, was received in Kazakhstan by H.E. Mr. Kairat Sarybay, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan);
III – 10-11 October 2013 (Pretoria; the delegation of Kazakhstan, headed by H.E. Mr. Kairat Sarybay, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan, was received in South Africa by H.E. Mr. Marius Fransman, Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation of South Africa). The 3rd round of Inter-Governmental Consultation played a pivotal part in further strengthening and deepening the bilateral relationship between Kazakhstan and South Africa. The main objectives of the third round of consultations were the following:
During the consultations, both parties expressed their sincere will to strengthen bilateral contacts in various fields. The delegations noted the importance of establishing cooperation in a variety of spheres and highlighted the potential for further development. The delegations exchanged views on issues of multilateral co-operation within the framework of international organisations. They also briefed each other of their respective positions on the pressing international issues, including the situations in Syria, Egypt and Kenya. The Kazakhstan delegation briefed the South African delegation on political and security issues in both Central Asia and Afghanistan;
IV - November 5-6, 2014 (Astana; the delegation of South Africa, headed by H.E. Ms. Nomaindia Mfeketo, Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation of South Africa, was received in Kazakhstan by H.E. Mr. Askar Mussinov, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan);
V - November 11, 2016 (Astana; the delegation of South Africa, headed by H.E. Ms. Nomaindia Mfeketo, Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation of South Africa, was received in Kazakhstan by H.E. Mr. Akylbek Kamaldinov, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan);
VI - November 23, 2018 (Pretoria; the delegation of Kazakhstan, headed by H.E. Mr. Yerzhan Ashikbaev, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan was received in South Africa by H.E. Ms. Reginah Mhaule, Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation of the Republic of South Africa);
VII – 6 June 2023 (Astana; the delegation of South Africa, headed by H.E. Ms. Candith Mashego-Dlamini, Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation of South Africa, was received in Kazakhstan by H.E. Mr. Kanat Tumysh, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan).
In 2017, South Africa took part in the EXPO-2017 World Exhibition held in Astana. H.E. Ms. Kiitumetsi S.T. Matthews, South African Ambassador to Kazakhstan, was the National Commissioner of the EXPO from South Africa.
On 16-20 September 2019, the delegation of Kazakhstan led by H.E. Mr. Arman Shakkaliyev, Chairman of the Committee for Technical Regulation and Metrology in the Ministry of Industry and Infrastructural Development, visited Cape Town and took part in the 110th meeting of the Council and the 42nd meeting of the General Assembly of the International Standardization Organization (ISO). The Kazakh delegation also participated in a meeting of the ISO Committee on Developing Countries (DEVCO), which summarized the work on training and involving experts from developing countries in the standardization process, carried out by the Committee in collaboration with the Advanced Training Department of the ISO Central Secretariat.
The historic decision of H.E. Mr. Nursultan Nazarbayev to relinquish his duties as President of the Republic of Kazakhstan has been followed by a corresponding reaction from the official Pretoria. As H.E. Mr. Cyril Ramaphosa, President of South Africa mentioned on 15 October 2019, during the Ceremony of accepting Letter of Credence from H.E. Mr. Kanat Tumysh, newly appointed Ambassador of the Republic of Kazakhstan: “The leadership of South Africa highly appreciates the role in the formation and development of modern Kazakhstan of its First President, who made a huge personal contribution to the successful promotion of the South African-Kazakh cooperation based on friendship and trust”.
The initiatives of H.E. Mr. Nursultan Nazarbayev, First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan are of genuine interest in South African society. In particular, the Plan of the Nation ‘100 Concrete Steps’, the Development Strategy ‘Kazakhstan-2050’, the State Programme ‘Nurly Zhol’, the Anti-War Treatise ‘The World. The 21st Century’, the texts of which are published in English and popularised in South Africa.
South Africa, being the first country in the world to voluntarily dismantle its nuclear weapons (its nuclear programme was curtailed in 1989), highly evaluated and repeatedly expressed its appreciation to the Republic of Kazakhstan and its First President for the important ideas and significant achievements in the building a nuclear-weapon-free world.
Kazakhstan and South Africa are striving to support mutually the international initiatives of both countries. Hence, in 2016, South Africa supported the candidacy of Kazakhstan for the non-permanent membership of the UN Security Council, with a term of office in 2017-2018, as well as for holding in its capital International Exhibition “EXPO-2017”. Kazakhstan, in turn, supported in 2018 the candidacy of South Africa at the elections of non-permanent members of the UN Security Council for the period 2019-2020. In 2018, official Pretoria also supported twice the candidacy of Kazakhstan, respectively, in the elections to the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of UNESCO and for the right to host the XII Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization in Astana in June 2020.
This successful interaction is a clear testimony to the parties' intention to strengthen further their mutually beneficial relations and partnership.
Consular Cooperation
The Consular Section of the Embassy has established and maintains constant contacts with citizens of Kazakhstan, who have created families with South African citizens, as well as families of South African citizens, who from 2000 to 2004 adopted 29 children from Kazakhstan.