Poland in South Africa

The Embassy of Poland has the honor to announce the II Sale of the following vehicle on an „as-is”, „where-is” basis:

The representatives of the Polish community from Vanderbijlpark celebrated on Sunday, November 19, 2022, the 40th anniversary of the establishment of the Polish Association Vaal Triangle. The celebrations gave an opportunity to recall and remind the activities of organizations and Poles living in the Vaal valley.

The "Seeing Auschwitz" exhibition was officially opened on Sunday, November 13, 2022, at the Johannesburg Holocaust and Genocide Centre (JH&GC). The exhibition was organized on the initiative of JH&GC in cooperation with the Embassy of Germany, the Embassy of Israel, the Embassy of Austria, the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Pretoria and the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation.

A solemn celebration of the National Independence Day of the Republic of Poland was organized on Sunday, November 13, 2022 in the Polish parish in Norwood, Johannesburg. The celebrations began with a mass celebrated by Fr. Radosław Szymoniak, the priest of the Polish parish in Johannesburg. The ceremony was attended by Consul Michał Gierwatowski, who mentioned the special importance of the Independence Day for Poles in his speech.

Ambassador Andrzej Kanthak met in the capital of Mozambique, Maputo with a group of Polish MEPs who attended the Joint Parliamentary Assembly of representatives of the European Union Parliament and countries associated in the organization of African, Caribbean and Pacific states.

The European Film Festival in Zimbabwe, initiated by the EU Delegation in Zimbabwe and its Member States in 2016, has become one of the leading film industry events in Zimbabwe. The Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Pretoria took part in this event for the first time.

On the occasion of All Saints' Day on November 1, 2022, representatives of the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Pretoria, the local Polish community and Polish diaspora associations laid wreaths on Polish graves and monuments in South Africa in honour of all Poles buried in South Africa.

During World War II, as part of the so-called "Passport Action", the Ładoś Group, in consultation with the Polish government in London, implemented a secret plan to save Jews. Thanks to false passports of neutral countries, Polish diplomats in Switzerland and Jewish activists saved at least several hundred Jews from the Holocaust. Passports of Latin American countries, mainly Paraguay, El Salvador, Honduras, Bolivia, Peru and Haiti, protected their ghetto holders against deportation to German extermination camps. Their owners were directed to internment camps, where they had a better chance of survival and some of them lived to see the end of the war.

On October 22, 2022, the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Pretoria took part in the Diplomatic Fun Fair, which is regularly organized by the South African Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) in front of the Union Buildings, official seat of the South African government in Pretoria. This year's event was held under the banner of the African Union "Strengthening Resilience in Nutrition and Food Security on the African Continent".

In connection with the new polish act on passport documents and the launch of the Passport Document Register, from November 8 (from 14:00) until November 13, 2022, passport authorities will not be accepting passport applications.