List of high commissioners of New Zealand to South Africa

Last updated

The high commissioner of New Zealand to South Africa is New Zealand's foremost diplomatic representative in the Republic of South Africa, and in charge of New Zealand's diplomatic mission in South Africa.

Contents

The high commission is located in Pretoria, one of South Africa's three capital cities, where New Zealand has maintained a resident high commissioner in South Africa only since 1996. This is due to New Zealand's refusal to accredit a high commissioner (or an ambassador from 1961 to 1994) to South Africa during the Apartheid era as a matter of principle. [1] The high commissioner to South Africa is concurrently accredited to Botswana, Kenya, Lesotho, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Thus, despite being one of New Zealand's youngest diplomatic missions, diplomatic relations with more countries are within its remit than within any other.

As fellow members of the Commonwealth of Nations, diplomatic relations between New Zealand and South Africa are at governmental level, rather than between heads of state. Thus, the countries exchange high commissioners, rather than ambassadors.

List of heads of mission

High commissioners to South Africa

Non-resident high commissioners to South Africa, resident in Zimbabwe

  • Brian Absolum (1994–1996)

Resident high commissioners to South Africa

  • Brian Absolum (1996–1999)
  • René Wilson (1999–2003)
  • Warren Searell (2003–2006)
  • Malcolm McGoun (2006–2008)
  • Geoff Randal (2008–2012)
  • Richard Mann (2012–2016)
  • Mike Burrell (2016-2019)
  • Sarah Lee (2019-2021) [2]
  • Emma Dunlop-Bennett (2022-2023) [3]

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Prime Minister Bolger opening High Commission in Pretoria. New Zealand Executive Government Speech Archive. Retrieved on 2006-07-08.
  2. ↑ "New Zealand's first female High Commissioner to South Africa appointed". tvnz.co.nz. TVNZ. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
  3. ↑ "Minister of Foreign Affairs makes three diplomatic appointments". beehive.govt.nz. Retrieved 30 September 2021.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Foreign relations of New Zealand</span>

The foreign relations of New Zealand are oriented chiefly toward developed democratic nations and emerging Pacific Island economies. Until the late 20th century, New Zealand aligned itself strongly with the United Kingdom and had few bilateral relationships with other countries. From the latter half of the 20th century, Australia has been New Zealand's most important cultural, economic and military partner. Today, the country participates in several multilateral political organisations, including Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, the Pacific Community, and the Pacific Islands Forum. New Zealand has been described as an emerging power; however, such a claim needs to be considered in the context of its medium-sized economy and limited military capability. The country's major political parties have generally agreed on the broad outlines of foreign policy, and the government has been active in promoting free trade, nuclear disarmament, and arms control.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">High commissioner (Commonwealth)</span> Senior diplomatic position

In the Commonwealth of Nations, a high commissioner is the senior diplomat, generally ranking as an ambassador, in charge of the diplomatic mission of one Commonwealth government to another. Instead of an embassy, the diplomatic mission is generally called a high commission.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ireland–South Africa relations</span> Bilateral relations

There is a historical and current bilateral relationship between Ireland and South Africa. Both countries have established embassies in the territory of the other, in Dublin and Pretoria.

References

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.