South Africa–Taiwan relations to South Africa H. K. Yang noting, "South Africa and my country are joined in the fight against communism. We are in favour of free enterprise, democracy and freedom". Relations expanded in the 1980s with South African leader P. W. Botha visiting in 1980 as Prime Minister. Earlier in 1980, former Taiwan Premier Sun Yun-suan visited South Africa. Vice President of Taiwan Hsieh Tung-min was present when the 1983 South African Constitution was inaugurated. Botha visited Taiwan again in 1986, this time as State President. Trade and political relations grew until the 1990s, when Nelson Mandela withdrew recognition of the
South Africa languages are of European origin: Afrikaans developed from Dutch and serves as the first language of most coloured and white South Africans; English reflects the legacy of British colonialism, and is commonly used in public and commercial life, though it is fourth-ranked as a spoken first language. The country is one of the few in Africa never to have had a coup d'état, and regular elections have been held for almost a century. However, the vast majority of black South Africans were not enfranchised until 1994. During the 20th century, the black majority sought to recover its rights from the