Permanent Representative of South Africa to the United Nations

The South African Permanent Representative in New York City is the official representative of the Government in Pretoria next the Headquarters of the United Nations.

Permanent Representative of South Africa to the United Nations
Incumbent Mathu Theda Joyini since February 3, 2021
Inaugural holder	Philip Rudolph Botha
Formation	April 25, 1945
Website	http://www.southafrica-usa.net/pmun/ambassador.html

History

• In 1945 South Africa was one of the 51 founding member of the United Nations.
• On 12 November 1974 the United Nations General Assembly suspended South Africa from participating in its work, due to international opposition to the policy of apartheid.
• In 1994 following its transition into a democracy South Africa was re-admitted to the UN.
• Since 1994 the democratically elected government has pursued a foreign policy based on the centrality of the UN in the multilateral system.

List of representatives

Diplomatic accreditation	Permanent Representative	Observations	President of South Africa	Secretary-General of the United Nations	Term end
April 25, 1945	Philip Rudolph Botha	Trade Commissioner, New York, September 29, 1929: Commercial Secretary, New York, March 1, 1946: Envoy Extraordinary, Lisbon, October 10, 1949: Envoy Extraordinary, Brussels, August 23, 1951: Ambassador, Brussels	J. B. M. Hertzog	Gladwyn Jebb
July 18, 1947	Seymour Jacklin		Jan Smuts	Trygve Halvdan Lie
November 1, 1948	Eric Louw	Eric Louw, representative of the South African government at the United Nations in November 1948,	Daniel François Malan	Trygve Halvdan Lie
September 16, 1949	Gerhardus Petrus Jooste	1937 Charge d Affairs in Brussels. 1941: Charge d Affairs Belgian government in London 31 March 1949: South African Ambassador to the United States. April 30, 1954: High Commissioner, London	Daniel François Malan	Trygve Halvdan Lie	December 31, 1949
January 1, 1949	Jan Ruiter Jordaan	Deputy permanent representative to the United Nations	Daniel François Malan	Trygve Halvdan Lie	May 18, 1949
June 20, 1954	Wentzel Christoffel du Plessis	October 28, 1953: High Commissioner, Ottawa August 1, 1956: South African Ambassador to the United States	Daniel François Malan	Dag Hammarskjöld	June 19, 1954
September 19, 1955	Donald Bell Sole	Deputy permanent representative to the United Nations	Johannes Gerhardus Strijdom	Dag Hammarskjöld	May 18, 1949
August 1, 1956	Donald Bell Sole		Johannes Gerhardus Strijdom	Dag Hammarskjöld	July 31, 1956
April 1, 1957	Johan Samuel Frederick Botha	acting Permanent representative (* February 18, 1919, South Africa) married 1949, Teresa M Robbins, one daughter, three sons. education : University of Stellenbosch, University of South Africa. 1940-1945 served with South African Army. 1949-1954: second secretary, South African Embassy Washington DC. 1954-1957: second secretary South Afarican Embassy Ottawa. 1954-1957: permanent representative to UN. 1959-1962: assistant secretary, Department of Foreign Affairs, Pretoria. 1964-1967: minister, South African Embassy, Washington DC. 1967-1971: deputy secretary for Foreign Affairs. 1971 appointed South African Ambassador to the United States	Johannes Gerhardus Strijdom	Dag Hammarskjöld	March 30, 1957
September 1, 1958	Bernardus Gerhardus Fourie	March 26, 1982: South African Ambassador to the United States	Hendrik Verwoerd	Dag Hammarskjöld	August 31, 1958
May 1, 1962	Matthys Izak Botha	February 26, 1959: Envoy Extraordinary, Berne. July 21, 1970: Ambassador in Ottawa. January 1, 1974: Ambassador of Rome. February 1, 1977: Ambassador London. March 5, 1979: Ambassador Bhisho.	Charles Robberts Swart	U Thant	July 10, 1962
October 14, 1970	Carl Friedrich George von Hirschberg	May 1, 1975: Consul General in Tokyo	Jacob Johannes Fouché	U Thant	July 16, 1970
February 15, 1974	Pik Botha	35/5000 March 10, 1975: South African Ambassador to the United States	Jacob Johannes Fouché	Kurt Waldheim
January 1, 1976	Jacobus Adriaan Eksteen	Till 1977 a Charge d Affairs. (*was born 31 October 1942 in Volksrust, Transvaal, Republic (then Union) of South Africa. He received the M.A. in political science, cum laude, from the University of South Africa. He entered the Civil Service in 1961, beginning with the Department of Interior, and was transferred to the Department of Justice in December of that year.	Johannes de Klerk	Kurt Waldheim
November 5, 1981	David Whitefoord Steward	(* 23. Mai 1945 in Nairobi) Son of Alexander Harvey Whitefoord Steward. educated St. John's School Leatherhead, UK 1976-1978: Counsellor SA Embassy Ottawa.	Marais Viljoen	Kurt Waldheim	January 1, 1979
October 7, 1983	Kurt Robert Samuel von Schirnding		Marais Viljoen	Javier Pérez de Cuéllar	January 1, 1982
January 1, 1987	Albert Leslie Manley	07|1988: Permanent Representative, Geneva (UN),	Pieter Willem Botha	Javier Pérez de Cuéllar
September 11, 1991	Vernon Rudston Whiteford Steward	Ambassador V R W Steward aa) United Nations of America (New York) [UN] bb)from 01.08.91 to 01.08.95	Frederik Willem de Klerk	Javier Pérez de Cuéllar
February 1995	Josiah Khiphusizi Jele	(* 1 May 1930, in Alexandra, Johannesburg).	Nelson Mandela	Boutros Boutros-Ghali
April 21, 1999	Dumisani Kumalo		Thabo Mbeki	Kofi Annan	January 1, 1998
March 17, 2009	Baso Sangqu		Jacob Zuma	Ban Ki-moon	March 16, 2009
March 13, 2013	Jeremiah Kingsley Mamabolo	(*Born in Johannesburg on 13 August 1955) 2009: High Commissioner to Nigeria	Jacob Zuma	Ban Ki-moon	2018
July 5, 2016	Jerry Matthews Matjila		Jacob Zuma	Ban Ki-moon	2018
February 3, 2021	Mathu Theda Joyini		Cyril Ramaphosa	António Guterres