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Explained: South Africa accused of providing arms to Russia during ongoing Ukraine war

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Explained: South Africa accused of providing arms to Russia during ongoing Ukraine war

Author
Arnav Jha Published:

12 May 2023 17:48:PM

Explained: South Africa accused of providing arms to Russia during ongoing Ukraine war South African leader Cyril Ramaphosa has denied the allegations that his country is supplying military aid to Russia. (Photo credit: AFP) South Africa has a self-proclaimed position of neutrality in the ongoing war in Ukraine

The story

On Thursday, Reuben Brigety, the US Ambassador to South Africa, told local reporters that he was ‘confident’ that a Russian vessel had picked up weapons and ammunition from the country when it had made port last December. If these allegations are true, then South Africa’s actions are no longer aligned with its self-avowed ‘neutrality’ in regard to the war in Ukraine. More importantly, it would make the nation liable to face the full brunt of western sanctions.

During a press briefing on the same day, the US State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel repeated Washington’s concerns regarding the Russian vessel that made port in South Africa last December but did not repeat Ambassador Brigety’s exact claims.

In response, South Africa has launched an independent inquiry into the allegations headed by a retired judge. Pretoria also claimed that the issue of the suspected arms shipment had already been discussed with US officials during a recent visit to America by a South African delegation.

Regardless of whether the allegations are true or not, the mere threat of US-led sanctions has proven sufficient to spook investors who quickly moved to sell off South African bonds and currency, tanking the value of the rand to its lowest level since April 6, 2020, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

It should be noted that the sell-off was already gathering pace before news of the allegation broke due to investor concerns regarding the impact of frequent power cuts in the nation but this panicked rush to sell only gathered pace with the possibility of western sanctions.

The details

The cargo ship in question, Lady R, is a civilian cargo ship registered to the Russian Federation which, according to Ambassador Brigety, docked in Simon Town’s naval base near Cape Town between December 6-8 last year. By itself, this is somewhat unusual given that a cargo ship would be expected to dock at Cape Town’s civilian harbour and not the Simon Town naval base.

When it docked, the cargo ship was already under US sanctions, which were slapped against it last year in May by the US Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control for suspected weapon shipments.

News reports covering the docking of the ship in South Africa last year present even more suspicious details to ponder over. The ship had apparently been travelling to Tanzania when it switched off all its identification systems and was apparently towed by boats belonging to the South African armed forces to the aforementioned Simon Town naval base.

This was despite the fact that the ship did not apparently send out a distress call. Then, under the cover of darkness and an apparently unrelated power outage, goods were offloaded and on-loaded on the ship during late night hours and under the armed guard of South African military forces.

Many of these details were raised in the South African parliament by opposition leader and shadow defence minister Kobus Marais who demanded an explanation from the Cyril Ramaphosa government.

Presently, CNN approached South African presidential spokesperson Vincent Magwenya with a simple question as to why the government in Pretoria needed an inquiry to establish events that may or may not have happened at its own naval base.

In response, the spokesperson stated that this was a sign South Africa was taking the US allegations seriously and that it was carrying out an investigation so as to avoid a back-and-forth cycle of accusations and denials which could damage relations between Pretoria and Washington.

South Africa’s close Russia ties

South Africa has long-standing ties with Moscow that predate the fall of the Soviet Union, going back to the days when the Union supported the currently ruling African National Congress’ fight against the apartheid regime.

Even after the fall of the Union, South Africa remained a key part of Russia’s Africa outreach strategy, with Moscow providing nations across the continent with weapons and technology alongside carrying out a number of engagement programmes ranging from the provision of humanitarian aid when necessary to promoting Russian language and culture in Africa.

This closeness of ties was further consolidated when both South Africa and Russia became two of the founding partners in BRICS, a formation that has always sought to present itself as a developing world alternative to the western-led G7 but is generally thought to have failed to live up to such lofty expectations.

Its colonial experience and its enduring ties with Russia are major reasons why South Africa has not joined the global condemnation of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with some ANC leaders even engaging in ‘what-aboutism’ by bringing up the colonial legacy of the western world that is now condemning Russia for its attempts at grabbing territory.

Officially, South Africa claims to hold a neutral position in regard to the Ukraine conflict though this supposedly peaceful middle-ground did not stop the nation from holding joint naval exercises with Russia and China back in February, a display that many observers considered quite deliberate in showing that Pretoria would not be bullied into following the western line on Russia or the war in Ukraine.

With all that said, an anti-imperialist hangover and determination to follow an independent foreign policy will not help South Africa brave the full force of western sanctions should they be applied against its alleged actions in supporting Russia’s war efforts.

The South African economy is already facing a period of considerable vulnerability, with the government failing to rectify a growing problem of widespread power cuts that are imposing a dramatic toll on Africa’s most industrialised economy.

South Africa, of course, understands this and has attempted to toe the line with its claims of neutrality though this balancing act has resulted in some particularly awkward moments for the government in Pretoria.

An example of this is the Cyril Ramphosa government’s recent flip-flopping on its intentions to withdraw from the International Criminal Court. For context, South Africa is set to host a BRICS summit later this year which will be attended by Vladimir Putin himself.

This is problematic as South Africa is a part of the ICC and may be compelled to enforce the arrest warrant for the Russian leader. As such, Cyril Ramphosa attempted to pull out from the ICC before his office was forced to retract his statement within hours.

Other countries allegedly supplying arms to Moscow

South Africa is far from the only nation that has been accused of supplying arms to Moscow. Iran, North Korea and China have also been accused of the same, with Iran, in particular, being highlighted for its provision of drones and missiles to the Russian war effort.

North Korea, according to the intelligence gathered by the US, has supplied Russia with arms and ammunition in a food-for-weapons deal that would suit the needs of the nation that is supposedly teetering on the edge of famine. There were even brief but unfounded rumours that North Korea would be sending some of its armed forces as some sort of mercenary force to fight on Russia’s side in Ukraine.

As for China, the US has attempted to highlight an escalating level of support for Russia from Beijing that has come close to providing lethal military aid though there is no known proof of this thus far.

Like South Africa, all three of the other countries named above have denied allegations of providing military aid to Russia.

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