The Philippines and South Africa are expected to conclude its memorandum of understanding (MOU) on a defense agreement that would allow South Africa to help in modernizing Manila’s armed forces, Ambassador Bartinah Ntombizodwa Radebe-Netshitenzhe said on Thursday, Aug. 28.
PH-South Africa defense, agri deals near conclusion
Published Aug 28, 2025 02:25 pm
South Africa Ambassador to the Philippines BN Radebe-Netshitenzhe
The envoy told in a roundtable discussion with the Manila Bulletin that the two countries are working on an MOU on defense and agriculture, and that her country had been bringing in ammunition to the Philippines.
“But we think we can help Philippines in that benefit from the modernization programs that they have in the government,” she said. “We think we can be able to conclude both the MOU on agriculture and MOU on defense.”
The ambassador explained that a defense cooperation agreement will benefit both countries as the Philippines needs it for the West Philippine Sea while South Africa can provide submarines since they need “to protect our shores, especially on the ocean species that we have.”
“We've long undertaken that because without you protecting your own shores, you know, ocean places, it becomes a problem. So we think we can. We think we can also be able to assist Philippines in terms of research and capabilities that they have,” Radebe-Netshitenzhe added.
“We've got a lot of companies that are doing South African, we actually have big industrial places that are doing defense equipment.”
Aside from providing defense capabilities, the envoy furthered that South Africa can help in the Philippines disaster preparedness and response, particularly because it suffers from natural disasters and calamities.
Ambassador BN Radebe-Netshitenzhe speaks to Manila Bulletin editors during a roundtable discussion in Intramuros, Manila on Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025.
“We've got a lot of calamities in the Philippines, we can be able to have the defense that is able to intervene when you've got calamities,” the ambassador said, explaining that South Africa is among the top producers of fighter jets in the world that they also use in times of calamities.
She pointed how the South African government has equipment “that we can be able to assist people to pick them out of the calamities on time… So we can be able to collaborate on that aspect.”
Last year, Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. met with Radebe-Netshitenzhe to reaffirm their commitment to enhance defense and military relations between the two countries.
They expressed optimism about concluding proposed defense cooperation agreements, which will serve as a framework in formalizing and initiating joint activities in various areas of cooperation.
Aside from defense, South Africa and the Philippines are also looking to conclude an MOU on agriculture.
The ambassador said they are looking at exporting white fish, pears, apples, and table grapes to the Philippines. She also believes that South Africa can benefit from learning about ocean economy from the Philippines.