Another storm over SA’s Russia relations

SA continues to find itself at the centre of geopolitical tensions between China, Russia and the US as President Cyril Ramaphosa again woos his Chinese counterpart in Beijing and the UN gears for its much anticipated Summit of the Future (22-23 September) which will evaluate Africa’s role in the global body. In the latest incident, Ukraine has taken aim at SA over the hosting of another Russian Navy ship in Cape Town. Legalbrief reports that the docking of the sanctioned Russian cargo ship Lady R in Simon's Town two years ago sparked a major diplomatic incident which saw the rand tank and US Ambassador Reuben Brigety hauled over the coals. The Ukrainian community in SA is outraged at the navy hosting the Russian naval training ship Smoln which is part of the Baltic Fleet. The vessel quietly visited Cape Town harbour late last month and left last Sunday. Its officers visited Simon’s Town to meet the senior command of the SA Navy. Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis told Daily Maverick that the visit seems to have been ‘under the radar’. ‘It’s a great moral shame and stain on this government that they have given and are giving succour to Putin’s Russia,’ he said.

The Ukrainian Association of SA said ‘embracing those who kill children is not neutrality’. It said that during the visit, a Russian guided bomb hit a residential building and playground killing six people, including children in Ukraine on 30 August. And on Tuesday, a Russian ballistic missile struck the Institute of Communication and a hospital in Poltava which resulted in 51 deaths. SA National Defence Force spokesperson Siphiwe Dlamini said he knew nothing about the visit. DM reports that the association also condemned the reported upcoming visit to SA of a Russian Tupolev Tu-160 long-range bomber, ‘possibly the one responsible for killing Ukrainian children in Kharkiv’. It cited reports in military websites that the strategic bomber was flying to Pretoria to participate in Africa’s largest air show, the Africa Aerospace and Defence 2024 exhibition later this month. Captain Tebogo Augustus, spokesperson for the SA Air Force, was quoted as saying that Russia and SA, as Brics members, along with China, India and Brazil, shared ‘robust economic connections, political relations, and military co-operation agreements’.

Full Daily Maverick report