South Africa's Soviet Connection1

Abstract

AbstractTo outward appearance at least, South Africa and the Soviet Union did not enjoy close relations during most of the 20th century. Diplomatic relations existed on paper between the Boer republics and Russia during the Anglo‐Boer war but they ended when the republics lost their independence. During the 1920s and 1930s trade was negligible, and the new high point in mutual interest and relations came only during the Second World War, when Soviet diplomatic or trade missions opened in Johannesburg, Pretoria and Cape Town. This official relationship was broken by the National Party government in 1956, and was re‐established only in the early 1990s, after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of apartheid. Diplomatic relations were, however, just the tip of the iceberg. The Soviet Union maintained a close connection with the Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA) and, later on, with both the African National Congress (ANC) and the South African Communist Party (SACP), the CPSA's successor. This article attempts to assess the extent and importance of this connection, and its influence on South Africa's transition to democracy and on the political players in today's South Africa.