Malawi: South Africa’s only ally

It is a paradox of history that South Africa’s apartheid regime, sanctioned and shunned by the international community, had a friend in Malawi. Its long-time authoritarian president, Hastings Banda, was politically conservative, suspicious and fearful of the socialist regimes of other countries in the region. Malawi was the only country in Africa to maintain diplomatic ties with South Africa during the apartheid era. South Africans occupied senior management positions in leading companies and helped train the security forces. When Banda decided to move the capital north from Zomba to Lilongwe, grants and loans from the apartheid regime helped finance construction.