Ambassador's Greeting

Since 1 September 2018, I have had the privilege and honour to represent the Kingdom of Denmark as the Danish Ambassador to South Africa.

For decades, Denmark has had close relations to South Africa and the people of South Africa. These relations date back to our strong support for democracy and the struggle against apartheid with Denmark being the first Western country to impose restrictive unilateral trade sanctions against the apartheid regime in South Africa.

Following the first democratic elections in 1994, the Danish-South African relations expanded rapidly to also include a comprehensive development assistance program. In the years since the democratic transformation, South Africa has experienced rapid changes. The reality of South Africa today means that the bilateral partnership between South Africa and Denmark has also transformed; there has been a phasing-out of previous development assistance programs and instead, the development of new partnerships that ranges from political dialogue and cooperation on bilateral and multilateral issues of mutual interest, to economic, commercial and cultural cooperation.

For many reasons, South Africa and Denmark share an important strategic partnership and new areas of cooperation are continuously being identified. One important area of cooperation is our common interest in creating a world built on human rights, good governance and the rule of law, as enshrined in the Constitutions of both South African and Denmark.

Another priority area is commercial cooperation and investments. The energy sector for example, presents opportunities for Danish companies who have leading competencies in the areas of wind and solar energy. The water sector presents similar potential for both South Africa and Denmark.

Other sectors of commercial partnerships involve city development, health, agriculture and food production and processing. Together with our culturally diverse staff at the Embassy, I will strive to develop ever-closer Danish-South African relations and promote cooperation that benefits both our countries and our people.

If you want to explore in greater depth what the new partnership entails, I invite you to explore this website and to follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

This website is meant to provide easy access to information about Denmark and Danish-South African relations. Should you require additional information on the cooperation between Denmark and South Africa, or our assistance in other matters, you are very welcome to contact the Embassy.

Tobias Elling Rehfeld, Ambassador