German Ambassador to South Africa Andreas Peschke has become the envy of the diplomatic corps for his fluent isiZulu speeches. In a recent interview in Cape Town, he discussed bilateral relations, trade, and investment challenges. He highlighted Germany's role as South Africa's second-largest trading partner.
German Ambassador Andreas Peschke began studying isiZulu as a young African studies student in Germany, inspired by South Africa's transition and Nelson Mandela. He arrived in September 2021 and practised isiZulu extensively to become fluent. He also started Sepedi lessons due to its use in Pretoria and picked up Afrikaans from Afrikaner classmates. Learning local languages, he said, “is a great way to value the diversity of South Africa, to reach out to people and to open a conversation.” He drew from Mandela’s maxim: “if you speak a language a person understands, you reach their mind. If you try to speak his or her language, you reach their heart.” People appreciate the effort as a sign of respect. Trade reached more than R294-billion last year, behind China's R642-billion; the EU accounts for about 40%. Over 600 German companies operate in South Africa, providing more than 100,000 direct jobs and double indirectly. Recent investments include BMW’s R4.2-billion Rosslyn expansion in 2023 and BASF’s Durban facility upgrade. Challenges include infrastructure, skilled labour shortages, bureaucracy, and B-BBEE. Peschke noted that B-BBEE implementation can be bureaucratic: “everybody understands the necessity of transformation, but maybe some of the implementation... is slowing down investment.” He suggested valuing job creation more highly or offering grace periods for new investors. Germany has invested over R50-billion in the Just Energy Transition Partnership. Recent agreements cover foot-and-mouth disease with ministers Alois Rainer and John Steenhuisen. A new joint naval Exercise Good Hope is planned. Relations are on a good trajectory, with South Africa as Germany's top African trading partner.
