位於非洲大陸南部的南非聯邦（South African Federation，以下簡稱「南非」），於1910年，成為大英帝國聯邦自治頜之一；1961年，成立南非共和國。南非主要分為四個省份，其人口數，依據2001年的統計，共有約44.8百萬人。南非社會由不同的族群所組成，其族群分為：非洲土著(Black African)、有（雜）色人種(Coloured)、印度和亞洲人(Indian/Asian)、白人(White)、未分類和其他人種(Unspecified/Other)等五種，其中以非洲土著之人數為最多（超過80%以上），其次為白人、印度和亞洲人等。來自中國大陸和臺灣、香港之華人，被編入印度和亞洲人種之中。南非的華人人數，1965年，根據中華民國僑務委員會的資料，約7,000餘人；至2000年，共有35,000人，在非洲地區中，為華人最多者，佔28%。 1905年，中國於南非約翰尼斯堡設立總領事館，惟南非並無向中國政府提出設領事之要求。1965年2月，南非政府始正式向中華民國政府提出，希望在臺北設立領事館，卻被臺灣當局婉拒。南非政府為表示對臺灣當局的不滿，直接間接探取各種途徑，意圖影響臺灣當局改變其立場，例如對住在南非的華人，實施報復的手段和措施，其中影響較大者，為執行所謂「族群分區居住法」(the Provisions of the Group Areas Act)，即在南非內部探取種族隔離的具體措施，以強迫遷移之手段，要求華人移居至南非政府所指定的地區，帶給華人財產損失及生活調適等，肇致華人社群的不安與緊張。其後，經由華人社團領導人的積極奔走、我駐約翰尼斯堡總領事的協調及溝通等，最後，以外交問題需要外交途徑來解決，在獲得臺灣當局的支持下，終能獲得南非政府同意延緩執行「族群分區居住法」，解決了華人的困擾。本文所參考之資料，以收藏於外交部的檔案及部份南非的報紙為主，並參考相關的著作。

Although South Africa and the Republic of China had diplomatic relations since 1905, only a Chinese Consul-General took up residence in Johannesburg, South Africa. After South Africa became a republic in May 1961, the government of South Africa attempted to set up a consulate in Taipei, Taiwan in 1965. Unfortunately, the Republic of China's government did not accept South Africa's plan to establish its consulate in Taipei. Therefore, the government of South Africa began to take steps to discriminate against the Chinese in South Africa. The purpose of this article is to analyze why the Republic of China's government refused to allow South Africa to establish a new consulate in Taipei, and how the Chinese in South Africa bore and responded to the policy of discrimination taken by the government of South Africa. For example, the Provisions of the Group Areas Act were executed by the government of South Africa, and overseas Chinese were forced to move to designated areas; at the same time, overseas Chinese were not allowed to attend a Chinese dinner-dance to raise money for extensions to a convent school. One of the major reasons which caused the Republic of China's government to bar South Africa's diplomatic delegate from residing in Taipei was the pressure from the United Nations Security Council, which did not treat South Africa as a member of the international community as a result of its racial policy, and the Republic of China's government was attempting to obtain support from the United Nations' members to maintain its position in the United Nations. As to South Africa’s policy of discrimination, it became a critical threat to the future development of the Chinese community in South Africa. Finally, the South African Chinese declared their loyalty to South Africa, and received a response from the Republic of China's government in the form of agreement to a South African consulate in Taipei in the 1980s.