# Diplomatic Relations With South Africa (1967)

URL: https://allhistories.com/malawi/timeline/1967-diplomatic-relations-with-south-africa
Location: Blantyre, Malawi
Themes: main-event

Landlocked and dependent on foreign trade routes, Malawi had close economic links with South Africa and Rhodesia through migrant labour, transport and investment. Banda argued that boycotts of the white-ruled south would harm poor African states more than Pretoria, and he advocated 'dialogue' and 'contact' rather than isolation. Prime Minister John Vorster, for his part, was seeking an 'outward-looking' policy towards black Africa. After a trade agreement was concluded earlier in the year, Malawi and South Africa established diplomatic relations in 1967. It was South Africa's first formal relationship with an independent African country under majority rule. South Africa provided loans and technical assistance, most notably for the building of the new capital at Lilongwe after Britain declined to finance it, and South African firms invested in Malawi. Thousands of Malawian men continued to work on South African mines under contracts arranged by recruiting agencies. The decision made Banda an outcast among many African leaders. Tanzania, Zambia and liberation movements condemned the policy, and there were calls for Malawi's expulsion from the Organisation of African Unity. Banda defended it as pragmatic, and the relationship remained a defining feature of his foreign policy until the end of apartheid. At this point in the timeline (1967), the President of Malawi was Hastings Kamuzu Banda (6 July 1966 – 24 May 1994).

## Why it matters
Malawi's ties with Pretoria broke African solidarity against apartheid and shaped Banda's isolation within the continent.

Ruler at the Time: [Hastings Kamuzu Banda](https://allhistories.com/malawi/rulers/hastings-banda)

## Sources
- [Wikipedia — Malawi–South Africa relations](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malawi%E2%80%93South_Africa_relations)
- [Encyclopaedia Britannica — Malawi South Africa relations](https://www.britannica.com/search?query=Malawi+South+Africa+relations)
- [South African History Online](https://www.sahistory.org.za/)
- [Wikipedia — The Banda Era (period overview)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hastings_Banda)