Diplomatic relations between Türkiye and the Republic of South Africa (RSA) were established in 1993. Embassy of the RSA in Ankara and the Turkish Embassy in Pretoria were established on 27 February 1993, and 22 March 1994 respectively. Turkish Consulate General in Cape Town was established on 10 September 2020.

H.E. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, as the then Prime Minister, had a bilateral meeting with RSA’s then President Jacob Zuma, on the margins of the G20 Antalya Summit held in Türkiye, on 15 November 2015.

H.E. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s visit to RSA on the margins of the BRICS Summit held in Johannesburg on 25-27 July 2018, upon the invitation of H.E. President Cyril Ramaphosa of the RSA; the bilateral meeting between the Presidents on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly on 20 September 2023; as well as the the telephone conversation held between Presidents on 25 January 2024 constituted the highest-level contacts in Turkish-RSA bilateral relations in recent years.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr. Hakan Fidan held a bilateral meeting with the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation of the RSA, Mr. Ronald Lamola, on 21 February 2025, on the sidelines of the First G20 Foreign Ministers' Meeting held in Johannesburg.

In the Sub-Saharan Africa, RSA is the leading trade partner of Türkiye. In 2024, bilateral trade volume between both countries reached approximately 2 billion US Dollars (Turkish exports 700 million US Dollars; imports 1.3 billion US Dollars).

The value of the Turkish investments in RSA is estimated over 100 million US Dollars. These investments are mostly in the mining and textile sectors. Moreover, there are many Turkish companies especially in Cape Town and Johannesburg, which carry out retail and wholesale, as well as import of textiles, carpets and food products. The recent significant investments made by the Turkish company Arçelik in the RSA (the South African company DEFY was acquired by Arçelik in 2011) has demonstrated Turkish private sector’s high-level interest in RSA in the economic plan.

The last Joint Economic Commission (JEC) meeting between Türkiye and RSA was held in Pretoria on 4-5 October 2017.

There is an estimated number of 5.000 Turkish citizens residing in RSA.

Exchange of tourists between Türkiye and RSA has considerably increased since the Turkish Airlines started anew to fly between Istanbul-Johannesburg-Cape Town on 17 September 2007. Turkish Airlines also started direct flights to Cape Town in October 2015, and to Durban in November 2015.