Introduction
The bilateral relationship that South Africa has with the Netherlands is one of South Africa’s oldest. The Netherlands did not only play an important role in the fight against apartheid during the period before 1994, but has continued to be a significant role-player in supporting South Africa’s democracy since 1994. The current South African Government has heightened its focus on ensuring that all South Africans enjoy the benefits of democracy and of the country’s economy.  As such the South African Government has focused its attention on five priorities:

• Education
• Health
• Rural development and land reform
• Creating decent work
• Fighting crime

In addition, the South African Government is working to improve the effectiveness of local government, infrastructure development and human settlements.

The initiatives that the Netherlands has undertaken to contribute to the socio-economic development of South Africa, whether it is by the Government or by Non-Governmental Organisations and the Private Sector, is significant and is widely recognised and appreciated.
Database
The South African Embassy in The Hague (Netherlands) has developed a database (included on this webpage) which contains information on the known cooperation projects that are currently being undertaken between South Africa and the Netherlands in order to obtain a clearer picture of the extent of the overall bilateral relationship.  The database is also intended as a tool to identify possible synergies and other opportunities for increased cooperation.

Due to privacy requirements this information can, however, not be made generally available and the database is therefore “log-in/password protected”.  Should role-players with a particular interest in this area wish to gain access to information contained in the database, please send an e-mail to [email protected] .