Poland in South Africa

Please be informed that due to the public holidays the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Pretoria will be closed on 29.05.2024 and 30.05.2024. ATTENTION! The Consular Section will be open on May 29, 2024.

Today’s meeting, attended by Ministers Radosław Sikorski and Annalena Baerbock, was held in a symbolic place on the borderland between Poland and Germany. Connecting the two countries, the Słubice-Frankfurt bridge served as our gate to Europe for years, while the West itself was a different world for generations of Polish people.

The National Agency for Academic Exchange is recruiting for the next edition of the Ulam NAWA program. Scientists from foreign universities and research centers with at least a PhD degree are invited to submit applications.

A meeting with the participation of prof. Jerzy Koch from the University of Adam Mickiewicz in Poznań with students of the faculty of early childhood education was organized on April 26, 2024 at the Akademia (a private South African university) in Centurion.

A seminar on “Multilateralism in an Increasingly Contested Global Order” was held on 23 April 2024, in Pretoria. The event was organized by the South African think tank SAIIA (The South African Institute of International Affairs), in cooperation with DIRCO and the Delegation of the European Union.

On April 20, 2024, the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Pretoria organized an event commemorating the 84th anniversary of the Katyn Massacre. At the Katyn Monument in Johannesburg, tribute was paid to Poles murdered in Katyn and deported east during mass deportation to Siberia.

The international "Ambassador of Polish History" award is an honorary distinction established by the IPN's President. It is granted to individuals and organizations in recognition of their outstanding contribution to commemorating the history of the Polish Nation and supporting the IPN in its statutory activities in the field of research and education. The "Ambassador of Polish History" is a continuation of the "Witness to History" award for non-Polish individuals and organizations, which was granted from 2015–2022.

The world-famous Polish conductor, Mariusz Smolij, led the South African Mzansi National Philharmonic Orchestra during a concert at ZK Matthews Hall at UNISA University in Pretoria. The concert took place on April 6, 2024, with the participation of the wonderful South African saxophonist Karén Devroop and the respected vocalist Zita Pretorius. The event was hosted by the Director and Vice-Chancellor of UNISA University, Professor Puleng LenkaBula.

A webinar devoted to the Katyn Massacre took place on 4 April 2024. The event was organized by the Holocaust and Genocide Centre in Cape Town in cooperation with the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Pretoria, the Katyn Families of Jewish Origin Foundation, and the Holocaust and Genocide Centres in Johannesburg and Durban.

On March 27, 2024, the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Pretoria, in cooperation with Alliance Française in Pretoria, organized a screening of the documentary film "Against the Sands of Time" directed by Marcin Jamkowski and Konstanty Kulik. The film documents the work of Polish archaeologists and conservators at 29 sites included in the UNESCO World Heritage List, spread over five continents.