In a three-day clandestine naval operation near Cape Town in early December, the U.S. accused South Africa on Thursday of providing weapons to Russia for its conflict in Ukraine.
According to statements made by Ambassador Reuben Brigety, head of the American diplomatic mission in South Africa, the U.S. was confident that the weapons were loaded onto the Russian-flagged cargo ship Lady R, which was covertly docked at the Simon’s Town naval base before leaving for Russia.
The suspected arming of Russia by South Africa during its invasion of Ukraine, according to him, was “extremely serious” and put into doubt South Africa’s purported neutral posture in the fight.
President Cyril Ramaphosa was questioned in Parliament by John Steenhuisen, the head of the country’s political opposition, over if South Africa “actively arms Russian soldiers who are killing and maiming innocent people.”
An investigation is ongoing, Ramaphosa retorted. Ramaphosa stated, “The matter is being looked into, and in time we will be able to speak about it,” but he made no additional comments.
Ramaphosa later claimed in a statement that he had spoken with American and South African officials about “the Lady R matter” and that “there was an agreement that an investigation will be allowed to run its course, and that the U.S. intelligence services will provide whatever evidence [they] have”
Therefore, Ramaphosa found it regrettable that the American ambassador had taken a public stance that was counterproductive and undermined both the agreement achieved on the issue and the extremely cordial and constructive interactions between the two delegations.
According to Brigety, “Among the things we [the U.S.] noted was the cargo ship’s docking in the Simon’s Town naval base between the 6th and 8th December 2022, which we are confident uploaded weapons and ammunition onto that vessel in Simon’s Town as it made its way back to Russia.”
A “mystery” Russian warship had stopped at the Simon’s Town facility earlier this year, prompting concerns from Steenhuisen’s party, the Democratic Alliance.
The South African authorities at the time refrained from making any public statements, claiming that further information was needed. Thandi Modise, the defense minister for South Africa, said the ship looked to be processing a “old order” of ammunition in late December. She also added that weapons were offloaded, not loaded onto the ship.
Although the South African government is an ally of the United States in Africa, it has repeatedly indicated that it will not support either side in the conflict in Ukraine and that it prefers a peaceful resolution. Although South Africa claims to be neutral, new talks with Russia have caused U.S. concerns.
A month or so after the claimed visit by the Lady R, South Africa welcomed the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov for discussions in January, providing him a platform to accuse the West of being behind the conflict in Ukraine.
Weeks later, South Africa permitted military exercises to take place off its east coast involving ships from the Chinese and Russian navies. One of the Russian navy’s flagship ships, the Admiral Gorshkov frigate, was brought.
The exercises were also attended by the South African navy, which described them as maneuvers that would “strengthen the already flourishing relations between South Africa, Russia, and China.”
The U.S. had “serious concerns” about South Africa’s choice to hold the naval exercises in February, which fell on the same day as the first anniversary of the start of the war in Ukraine, according to Brigety.
The exercises, according to South Africa, were prepared years in advance of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The relationship between South Africa and the United States has become more complicated as a result of the delegation that Ramaphosa’s African National Congress Party, which is currently in power, sent to Moscow last month.
This report included some content from The Associated Press.
