The exercises draw together several nations feuding with the US administration and come at a time of heightened tensions following Washington's raid on Venezuela.

A Chinese destroyer and replenishment ship, and an Iranian forward base ship sailed into South African waters earlier this week ahead of the week-long manoeuvres due to kick off with an opening ceremony Saturday.

AFP journalists near the Simon's Town base saw the Russian-flagged corvette vessel pull into False Bay.

China is the lead nation in the "Will for Peace 2026" drill involving navies from the 11-nation BRICS group of emerging nations which US President Donald Trump has labelled "anti-American".

The South African navy said it would confirm details of the vessels present later Friday.

The United Arab Emirates was also expected to send ships, Deputy Defence Minister Bantu Holomisa told Newzroom Afrika television late Thursday.

Other BRICS nations Indonesia, Ethiopia and Brazil will send observers, he said. The remaining members of the grouping are India, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

The drills will allow the navies "to exchange best practices and improve joint operational capabilities, which contributes to the safety of shipping routes and overall regional maritime stability," South Africa's defence force said.

- Global tensions -

Washington this week seized a Russian-flagged oil tanker it said was part of a shadow fleet that carried oil for countries such as Venezuela, Russia and Iran.

It has also threatened action against Iran should protesters be killed in mounting demonstrations sparked by anger over the rising cost of living.

Asked about the timing of the navy exercises, Holomisa said: "This exercise was planned long before these tensions we are witnessing today."

"Let us not press panic buttons because the USA has got a problem with countries," he said. "Those are not our enemies," he said.

The joint drills were initially scheduled for November 2025 but were postponed due to a clash with the G20 summit in Johannesburg.

Washington boycotted the summit amid a row with Pretoria that includes anger over its ties with Russia and Iran.

"Washington has clearly been attempting to put Pretoria in its bad book since the beginning of the current Trump administration," Priyal Singh, senior researcher at the Institute for Security Studies, told AFP.

"The optics surrounding the upcoming naval exercise will likely be used by policymakers in Washington as another prime example of why its bilateral relations with South Africa should be reviewed," he said.