The Chinese satellite tracking and missile telemetry vessel, Yuan Wang 5, which has a dual military and civilian role, called at the Port of Durban recently.
The controversial ship called at the port on 29 March, a move that has been viewed as a sign that South Africa’s alignment with China and Russia is growing.
The latest port call comes just weeks after a high-profile naval exercise involving the three countries, raised political and environmental concerns among local civil rights groups.
The exercise took place off the coast of KwaZulu Natal, near Richards Bay.
Yuan Wang 5 left her berth on the Yangtze River in China in late February and journeyed south through the Philippine Sea and the Banda Sea before sailing into the Indian Ocean.
She then loitered off the Western Coast of Australia for five days, before heading north to Durban and then west towards the Atlantic.
The vessel had declared the "open sea" as her destination.
Earlier, India protested when Yuan Wang 5 scheduled a port call in the Chinese-operated seaport, Hambantota, on Sri Lanka's south coast in August 2022.
India described the "spy ship" as a breach of its national security interests, warning that it could start a pattern of Chinese naval activity near its shores.
Yuan Wang 5's Durban port call overlapped with the arrival of two Iranian Navy vessels, the expeditionary base ship Makran and the frigate Dena, at the Port of Cape Town.
