ABSTRACT
The South African government looked into the possibility of creating ‘diplomatic suburbs’ for black ambassadors in Cape Town and Pretoria but deemed it too risky. While state representatives from across Africa and the world attended Congo’s independence celebration in Leopoldville on 30 June 1960, South Africa was missing from the list of foreign delegates at the capital. With Congo’s independence looming on the horizon, South Africa’s Department of Foreign Affairs began internally discussing its future relations with Congo. The declaration of the latter resolution was followed by a standing moment of silence for the ‘victims in South Africa’. Evidence indicates that most military material originating from South Africa was not supplied or organised by Pretoria itself but by agents who worked for the Katangese government. The firm in Elisabethville claimed it acted on behalf of the Katangese and South Kasai governments.
