The British high commissioner to South Africa is the head of the United Kingdom's diplomatic mission in the Republic of South Africa.
As fellow members of the Commonwealth of Nations, the United Kingdom and South Africa exchange high commissioners rather than ambassadors, and the high commissioner's office in Pretoria is the high commission rather than the embassy. However, from 1961 to 1994 South Africa was not a member of the Commonwealth, so for that time the British head of mission was an ambassador and his office was the embassy.
Besides the high commission in Pretoria, the UK maintains a consulate-general in Cape Town. [1] The high commissioner to South Africa is also accredited to the Kingdom of Eswatini (formerly Swaziland), but a resident high commissioner to Eswatini has been appointed and is expected in post in summer 2019. [2] From 2005 to 2019 the high commissioner to South Africa was also accredited to the Kingdom of Lesotho.
The Republic of South Africa is the historical successor to the Union of South Africa, which came into being on 31 May 1910 with the unification of four previously separate British colonies: Cape Colony, Natal Colony, Transvaal Colony and Orange River Colony. It included the territories formerly part of the Boer republics annexed in 1902, South African Republic and Orange Free State. The Union of South Africa was a dominion of the British Empire which became sovereign (along with other dominions) in 1931. The Union became the Republic of South Africa in 1961; the country left the Commonwealth of Nations at that time but rejoined in 1994.
From 1910 to 1931 the governor-general also held the office of high commissioner: see Governor-General of the Union of South Africa.
The Union of South Africa was the historical predecessor to the present-day Republic of South Africa. It came into existence on 31 May 1910 with the unification of the Cape, Natal, Transvaal, and Orange River colonies. It included the territories that were formerly a part of the South African Republic and the Orange Free State.
High commissioner is the title of various high-ranking, special executive positions held by a commission of appointment.
Resident commissioner was or is an official title of several different types of commissioners, who were or are representatives of any level of government. Historically, they were appointed by the British Crown in overseas protectorates, or colonies, and some still exist in this capacity. The United States of America once had a resident commissioner in the Philippines and the Puerto Rico resident commissioner resides in Washington DC. State governments of today's Republic of India have a resident commissioner to represent them in New Delhi.
The following lists events that happened during 1910 in South Africa.
The High Commission of South Africa in London is the diplomatic mission from South Africa to the United Kingdom. It is located at South Africa House, a building on Trafalgar Square, London. As well as containing the offices of the High Commissioner, the building also hosts the South African consulate. It has been a Grade II* listed building since 1982.
A British High Commission is a British diplomatic mission, equivalent to an embassy, found in countries that are members of the Commonwealth of Nations. Their general purpose is to provide diplomatic relationships as well as travel information, passports, dual-citizenship information, and other services between Commonwealth states.
South Africa has a 'hybrid' or 'mixed' legal system, formed by the interweaving of a number of distinct legal traditions: a civil law system inherited from the Dutch, a common law system inherited from the British, and a customary law system inherited from indigenous Africans. These traditions have had a complex interrelationship, with the English influence most apparent in procedural aspects of the legal system and methods of adjudication, and the Roman-Dutch influence most visible in its substantive private law. As a general rule, South Africa follows English law in both criminal and civil procedure, company law, constitutional law and the law of evidence; while Roman-Dutch common law is followed in the South African contract law, law of delict (tort), law of persons, law of things, family law, etc. With the commencement in 1994 of the interim Constitution, and in 1997 its replacement, the final Constitution, another strand has been added to this weave.
The British office of high commissioner for Southern Africa was responsible for governing British possessions in Southern Africa, latterly the protectorates of Basutoland, the Bechuanaland Protectorate and Swaziland, as well as for relations with autonomous governments in the area.
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.
A dominion was any of several self-governing nations of the British Empire. With the evolution of the British Empire into the Commonwealth of Nations, the dominions became independent states.
South Africa–United Kingdom relations are the current and historical relationships between the United Kingdom (UK) and the Republic of South Africa. South Africa is most important trade partner in Africa for the United Kingdom and an important partner for the UK in a number of areas.
Antony John Phillipson is a British diplomat, and as of 2021 a 2022, British High Commissioner to South Africa. He was High Commissioner to Singapore from 2011 to April 2015, and from 2017 to June 2021 was the British Consul-General in New York and Her Majesty's Trade Commissioner for North America.
The Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia in Pretoria is the diplomatic mission of the Republic of Indonesia to the Republic of South Africa and concurrently accredited to the Republic of Botswana, the Kingdom of Eswatini, and the Kingdom of Lesotho. The embassy is located at 949 Francis Baard Street in the suburb of Arcadia, Pretoria. Indonesia also has a consulate general in Cape Town and an honorary consulate in Mbabane, Eswatini.
