High Commissioner to South Africa

  • Media release

Today I announcethe appointment of Ms Gita Kamath as Australia's next High Commissioner toSouth Africa. Ms Kamath will also have non-resident accreditation to Angola,Botswana, eSwatini, Lesotho, Mozambique and Namibia.

Australia has aclose relationship with South Africa, underpinned by substantial bilateraltrade and investment interests and extensive people-to-people links. SouthAfrica is Australia's largest trading partner in Africa. In 2017-18, two-waytrade in goods and services was valued at $3.7 billion and two-way investmentwas $15 billion.

We value South Africa as a strong voice ininternational bodies, including the G20, the Commonwealth, the Indian Ocean RimAssociation (IORA) and the United Nations.

Australia enjoyspositive bilateral relationships with Angola, Botswana, eSwatini, Lesotho,Mozambique and Namibia built around education and development cooperation.

Ms Kamath is asenior career officer with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and wasmost recently Assistant Secretary, Africa Branch.

Ms Kamath holds aMaster of Arts (Foreign Affairs and Trade), Australian National University; aBachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Laws, University of New South Wales; and aGraduate Diploma in Legal Practice, University of Technology Sydney.

I thank outgoingHigh Commissioner Adam McCarthy for his contributions to advancing Australia'sinterests in South Africa since 2015.

Media enquiries