South Africa denies US claims that Russian military supplies have been made

Pretoria’s position of neutrality in the Ukraine war, according to President Cyril Ramaphosa, was upheld.

President Cyril Ramaphosa declared on Sunday that a government investigation in South Africa had found no proof to back up US suspicions that a Russian ship had brought a shipment of weapons ashore there last year.

Reuben Brigety, the US ambassador to South Africa, said in May that Pretoria had supplied Russia with weapons and ammunition that had been put onboard the Lady R cargo ship in Simon’s Town’s port in December 2022. Brigety criticised South Africa for ostensibly breaking its non-alignment policy in the midst of the war between Russia and Ukraine.

In response to the accusations, Brigety was called into the South African Foreign Ministry, and President Ramaphosa blasted the US for “undermining the spirit of cooperation.” At the time, the leader promised to launch an investigation but maintained that there was no proof to back up the envoy’s assertions. Brigety was urged to “mind his own business” and refrain from interfering in the affairs between Moscow and Pretoria by Sergey Lavrov, the foreign minister of Russia.

On Sunday, Ramaphosa declared that a government panel had “found no evidence that any cargo of weapons was loaded for export onto the ship Lady R” or that the boat had shipped weapons to Russia. He continued by saying that the persons making the accusations had not shown any proof to support them and that as a result, they had hurt South Africa’s economy and reputation internationally.

Ramaphosa stated that the investigation took testimony from close to 50 persons and looked at more than 100 documents. It was proven that the ship had brought supplies the South African military had requested from the weapons-purchasing firm Armscor. He declined to provide the report to the public or give specifics on the equipment that was delivered, claiming that doing so may jeopardise “critical [South African] military operations.”

The import of the products had the necessary permissions, according to Ramaphosa, and there was no proof of illegal activity.

Russia and South Africa have long-standing connections that date back to the Soviet era. Although it has vowed to remain impartial in the Ukraine war, it has charged that Western sanctions against Moscow have harmed “bystander countries.” A significant BRICS economic meeting, which includes Russia as a member, was held in South Africa last month. It conducted naval drills in February with Moscow and Beijing, which Washington criticised.