South Africa placed a contract for three Type 209/1400 submarines in July 2000 on Howaldtswerke-Deutche Werft (HDW) and Thyssen Nordseewerke. The Type 209/1400 displaces 1,450t surfaced and 1,600t dived. The Type 209/1400 submarines replace the French-built Daphne Class submarines, SAS Spear, SAS Assegai and SAS Umkhonto which were decommissioned in 2003.

The first submarine, SAS Manthatisi (S101), was built by Howaldtswerke at Kiel. It was launched in June 2004 and commissioned in November 2005. The second and third submarines were built by Thyssen Nordseewerke in Emden. The SAS Charlotte Maxeke (S102) was launched in May 2005 and commissioned in March 2007. The third submarine, SAS Queen Modjadji (S103), was launched in 2006 and will be commissioned in 2008.