Relationship dossier
Saudi Arabia
South Africa
Relationship assessment
Economic cooperation alongside friction over South African arms-export restrictions
Saudi Arabia toward South Africa
+25Saudi Arabia pursued economic cooperation with South Africa, including investment commitments and bilateral agreements associated with President Ramaphosa’s 2018 visit.
South Africa toward Saudi Arabia
+20South Africa pursued bilateral economic cooperation with Saudi Arabia, while restricting arms exports under rules requiring assurances about end use; concerns about the Yemen conflict contributed to friction over Saudi arms imports.
Overall relationship
+25The relationship has a practical economic-cooperation foundation, including investment commitments and bilateral agreements, but is not free of disputes. South African restrictions on arms exports to Saudi Arabia, linked to concerns about their use in Yemen, have complicated security ties.
How to read these scores
Scores are rough judgments, not objective measurements or current verification. Directional scores describe government policy and conduct, not public opinion. The overall score is an independent estimate, never an average.
- −100
- Extreme sustained hostility
- −50
- Substantially adversarial
- 0
- Mixed or neutral, supported by knowledge
- +50
- Substantially cooperative
- +100
- Exceptionally close sustained partnership
“Not assessed” means there is no recorded score. Pair existence makes no claim about diplomatic recognition or established relations.
Relationship context
Overview
Saudi Arabia and South Africa have pursued economic and diplomatic cooperation, including investment and cooperation agreements associated with President Cyril Ramaphosa’s 2018 visit to Saudi Arabia. Relations have also faced friction over South Africa’s restrictions on arms exports to Saudi Arabia amid concerns about their use in Yemen. The relationship combines practical cooperation with a significant defense-policy disagreement.
Areas of tension
- South African restrictions on arms exports to Saudi Arabia, including end-use assurance requirements and concerns related to the Yemen conflict.
Key developments
President Cyril Ramaphosa visited Saudi Arabia, with investment commitments and bilateral cooperation agreements announced.
South African arms-export controls and end-use requirements created friction over arms imports by Saudi Arabia, amid concerns about the Yemen conflict.
Major uncertainties
- The implementation and scale of Saudi investment commitments in South Africa are unclear.
- The current scope of bilateral economic and security cooperation is unclear.