List of ambassadors of Sweden to South Africa

Ambassador of Sweden to South Africa
Lesser coat of arms of the Kingdom of Sweden
Incumbent Håkan Juholt since September 2020
Ministry for Foreign Affairs Swedish Embassy, Pretoria
Style	His or Her Excellency (formal) Mr. or Madam Ambassador (informal)
Reports to	Minister for Foreign Affairs
Residence	297 Canopus Street, Waterkloof Ridge
Seat	Pretoria, South Africa
Appointer	Government of Sweden
Term length	No fixed term
Inaugural holder	Harry Eriksson
Formation	1944
Website	Swedish Embassy, Pretoria

The Ambassador of Sweden to South Africa (known formally as the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Sweden to the Republic of South Africa) is the official representative of the government of Sweden to the president of South Africa and government of South Africa.

History

In 1944, the Swedish consulate general in Pretoria was upgraded to a legation and Harry Eriksson was appointed Sweden's first envoy in South Africa. ^[1]

On 1 November 1993, after Nelson Mandela was released from prison, the Swedish legation was upgraded to an embassy, as one of the last legations in the world. ^[2] The diplomatic rank was thereafter changed to ambassador instead of envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary.

List of representatives

Name	Period	Title	Notes	Ref
Union of South Africa (1910–1961)
Harry Eriksson	1944–1945	Acting envoy		[1]
Harry Eriksson	1945–1948	Envoy		[3]
Carl Olof Gisle	1948–1954	Envoy		[4]
Alexis Aminoff	1954–1959	Envoy		[5]
Eyvind Bratt	1959–1961	Envoy		[6]
Republic of South Africa (1961–present)
Eyvind Bratt	1961–1963	Envoy		[6]
Hugo Tamm	1964–1966	Envoy		[7]
Eric Virgin	1966–1970	Envoy	Also acreddited to Gaborone and Maseru.	[8]
Carl Johan Rappe	1970–1973	Envoy	Also acreddited to Gaborone, Maseru and Mbabane.	[9]
Lennart Westerberg	1973–1978	Envoy	Also acreddited to Maseru (until 1978) and Mbabane (until 1977).	[10] [11]
Gustaf Hamilton af Hageby	1978–1982	Envoy		[12]
Arne Helleryd	1982–1985	Envoy		[13]
Jan Lundvik	1985–1990	Envoy		[14]
Ingemar Stjernberg	1990–1993	Envoy		[15] [16]
Ingemar Stjernberg	1993–1994	Ambassador		[16]
Bo Heinebäck	1994–1999	Ambassador		[17]
Helena Nilsson Lannegren	2000–2005	Ambassador	Also acreddited to Maseru and Windhoek.	[18]
Anders Möllander	2005–2008	Ambassador	Also acreddited to Maseru and Windhoek. [a]	[19]
Peter Tejler	2008–2012	Ambassador	Also acreddited to Maseru, Gaborone, and Windhoek.	[20]
Anders Hagelberg	2012–2016	Ambassador	Also acreddited to Gaborone.	[21]
Cecilia Julin	September 2016 – 2020	Ambassador	Also acreddited to Maseru, Gaborone, and Windhoek.	[22]
Håkan Juholt	September 2020 – present	Ambassador	Also acreddited to Maseru, Gaborone, and Windhoek.	[23]
Anna Karin Eneström	Autumn 2025	Ambassador		[24]

See also

• South Africa–Sweden relations
• Embassy of Sweden, Pretoria

Footnotes

1. The Swedish embassy in Luanda and Gaborone were planned to close in 2008 and the same year the responsibility would be transferred to the Swedish embassy in Pretoria. ^[19] However, the decision to close the embassy in Luanda was changed the same year and it remained open.

References

1. Sveriges statskalender för året 1945 (PDF) (in Swedish). Uppsala: Fritzes offentliga publikationer. 1945. p. 268.
2. "Pretoria får svensk ambassad" [Pretoria gets Swedish embassy]. Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). TT. 2 November 1993. p. 11. Retrieved 15 November 2023.
3. Sveriges statskalender för året 1946 (PDF) (in Swedish). Uppsala: Fritzes offentliga publikationer. 1946. p. 275.
4. Sveriges statskalender för året 1954 (PDF) (in Swedish). Uppsala: Fritzes offentliga publikationer. 1954. p. 307.
5. Sveriges statskalender för året 1959 (PDF) (in Swedish). Uppsala: Fritzes offentliga publikationer. 1959. p. 304.
6. Sveriges statskalender 1963 (PDF) (in Swedish). Uppsala: Fritzes offentliga publikationer. 1963. p. 309.
7. Sveriges statskalender 1966 (PDF) (in Swedish). Uppsala: Fritzes offentliga publikationer. 1966. p. 298.
8. Sköldenberg, Bengt, ed. (1970). Sveriges statskalender 1970 (PDF) (in Swedish). Uppsala: Fritzes offentliga publikationer. p. 357.
9. Sköldenberg, Bengt, ed. (1973). Sveriges statskalender 1973 (PDF) (in Swedish). Uppsala: Almqvist & Wiksell. p. 359. SELIBR   3682755.
10. Sköldenberg, Bengt, ed. (1978). Sveriges statskalender 1978 (PDF) (in Swedish). Uppsala: Liber/Allmänna. p. 458. ISBN   91-38-03894-3. SELIBR   3682759.
11. Sköldenberg, Bengt, ed. (1977). Sveriges statskalender 1977 (PDF) (in Swedish). Uppsala: Liber/Allmänna. p. 455. ISBN   91-38-03338-0. SELIBR   3682758.
12. Sköldenberg, Bengt, ed. (1982). Sveriges statskalender 1982 (PDF) (in Swedish). Stockholm: Liber/Allmänna. p. 375. ISBN   9138067307. SELIBR   3682763.
13. Spiegelberg, Christina, ed. (1985). Sveriges statskalender 1985 (PDF) (in Swedish). Stockholm: Liber Allmänna. p. 362. ISBN   91-38-90564-7. SELIBR   3682783.
14. Spiegelberg, Christina, ed. (1990). Sveriges statskalender 1990 (PDF) (in Swedish). Stockholm: Allmänna. p. 371. ISBN   913812291X. SELIBR   3682769.
15. Almqvist, Gerd, ed. (1993). Sveriges statskalender 1993 (PDF) (in Swedish). Stockholm: Allmänna. p. 360. ISBN   9138128098. SELIBR   3682772.
16. Almqvist, Gerd, ed. (1994). Sveriges statskalender 1994 (PDF) (in Swedish). Stockholm: Fritzes. p. 193. ISBN   9138129485. SELIBR   3682773.
17. Spiegelberg, Christina, ed. (1999). Sveriges statskalender 1999 (PDF) (in Swedish). Stockholm: Fritzes. p. 195. ISBN   91-38-31445-2. SELIBR   3682778.
18. Spiegelberg, Christina, ed. (2005). Sveriges statskalender 2005 (PDF) (in Swedish). Stockholm: Fritzes. p. 191. ISBN   9138321971. SELIBR   9879458.
19. Henriksson, Maria, ed. (2008). Sveriges statskalender 2008 (PDF) (in Swedish). Stockholm: Norstedts Juridik AB/Fritzes. p. 198. ISBN   978-91-38-32405-9. SELIBR   10900526.
20. Sveriges statskalender 2010 (PDF) (in Swedish). Stockholm: Norstedts Juridik AB/Fritzes. 2010. pp. 175, 188, 191, 198. ISBN   978-91-38-32520-9. SELIBR   11846164.
21. • Botswana: "PRESIDENT KHAMA RECEIVES NEW DIPLOMATIC ENVOYS". Government of Botswana. 6 September 2013. Retrieved 5 September 2025– via Facebook.
    • South Africa: "Diplomats Directory" (PDF). Government of South Africa. 9 June 2014. p. 64. Retrieved 5 September 2025.
22. • Botswana: Ikgopoleng, Portia (9 February 2017). "Botswana Sweden renew relations". Daily News Botswana . Gaborone. Retrieved 5 September 2025.
    • Lesotho: "Creating breakthroughs for women in the entrepreneurship ecosystem in Africa". Africa Women Innovation & Entrepreneurship Forum (AWIEF). November 2018. Retrieved 4 September 2025. Excellency, Mrs Cecilia Julin, Ambassador of Sweden to South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho and Namibia
    • Namibia: "Namibia's Ambassador to Sweden - Mr. George Liswaniso". Embassy of Namibia, Stockholm. 26 June 2019. Retrieved 5 September 2025– via Facebook. Sweden's Ambassador to Namibia - Ms. Cecilia Julin
    • South Africa: "Ny ambassadör i Sydafrika" [New ambassador in South Africa] (Press release) (in Swedish). Ministry for Foreign Affairs. 2 June 2016. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
23. • Botswana: Lebanna, Pako (20 March 2022). "Botswana canvasses for European support in Kimberly Process bid". Daily News Botswana . Gaborone. Retrieved 5 September 2025.
    • Lesotho: "About us". Embassy of Sweden, Pretoria. Archived from the original on 21 May 2025. Retrieved 4 September 2025. Ambassador and Head of the mission is Mr. Håkan Juholt. The Embassy of Sweden in South Africa represents the Swedish government in the Republic of South Africa, Botswana, Namibia and Lesotho.
    • Namibia: Tjitemisa, Kuzeeko (30 November 2020). "Namibia: Ambassadors Present Credentials to Geingob" . allAfrica . Retrieved 5 September 2025. Others include [...] Sweden ambassador Hakan Juholt
    • South Africa: "Ny ambassadör i Sydafrika" [New ambassador in South Africa] (Press release) (in Swedish). Ministry for Foreign Affairs. 3 September 2020. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
24. "Ny ambassadör i Sydafrika" [New ambassador in South Africa] (Press release) (in Swedish). Ministry for Foreign Affairs. 8 May 2025. Retrieved 8 May 2025.

External links

• Embassy of Sweden, Pretoria (in Swedish and English)