South Africa entered World War II on the side of the Allies against Nazi Germany and other Axis members.

[1] Members of the OB refused to enlist in the South African forces, and sometimes harassed servicemen in uniform.

[2] More dangerous than this was the formation of the Stormjaers (English: Assault troops, literally stormhunters), a paramilitary wing of the OB similar to the Nazi Sturmabteilung.

[4] The Union government cracked down on the OB and the Stormjaers, placing thousands of them in internment camps for the duration of the war.

The South African prosecution sought Bonn's assistance in this important trial and received it without delay.

In the early 1970s, the FRG had to withdraw its NATO ambassador because he had visited a South African uranium enrichment plant.

"Daimler is a vital partner of the South African war industry," concluded Abdul Minty, director of the international anti-Apartheid Organization in the late 1980s.

[9] During the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine President Ramaphosa of South Africa and German Chancellor Scholz publicly disagreed over their respective stances on the war; with Germany being strongly critical of the Russian invasion and South Africa advocating for a more neutral stance that was friendlier towards Russia.

[9][11][12] In 2010, German foreign minister Guido Westerwelle visited South Africa and called the relationship "excellent" and "a strategic partnership" in both economics and world affairs.