In 1948, the South African government, at the time representing only a small proportion of the population, erected a system of strict racial segregation and called it apartheid (separateness) which is a codified system of racial stratification which first began to take form in South Africa under the Dutch Empire in the late eighteenth century.

[4] In 1949, during the visit of South African Prime Minister Daniel François Malan to the Netherlands, Dutch Queen Juliana told her guest that she would "never set foot in his country as long as apartheid reigned".

[4] In 1959 the Dutch representative to the UN abstained from voting for an anti-apartheid resolution, apartheid being regarded "an internal affair" of South Africa.

[6] Soon, Dutch anti-apartheid movements called the "Anti-Apartheid Beweging Nederland" (AABN), and "Kommittee Zuidelijk Afrika" (KZA) (both later merged and converted themselves into the "Nederlands Instituut voor Zuidelijk Afrika" (NIZA)) began staging demonstrations and obtaining signatures to protest against the South African government in the Netherlands.

In September 1996, Dutch Queen Beatrix paid an official visit to South Africa and met with President Mandela.

[12] Both nations maintain cordial relations and work together in international organizations and have signed numerous bilateral agreements in political, economic, cultural and social cooperation.

South African exports to the Netherlands include: livestock, meat, fish, fruit, juice and raw material.