South Africa rejects US accusations of supplying arms to Russia

Africa, News, US May 14, 2023 , by IRIA No Comments

South African officials have hit back at the U.S. accusations of supplying weapons to Russia. The response came after the United States ambassador to South Africa Reuben Brigety had claimed that a Russian ship collected weapons from a naval base in Cape Town late last year.

However, the U.S. ambassador later apologized to the government and the people of South Africa for his comments.

His allegations prompted a swift response from South Africa after fears from business communities started surfacing that the U.S. accusation may lead to the imposition of economic sanctions on the African country.

As a reaction to his accusation, Brigety was summoned by the South African foreign ministry on May 12, 2023. The foreign ministry said that the officials “expressed the government’s utter displeasure with his conduct and statement”.

The statement also highlighted that Brigety “admitted that he crossed the line and apologized unreservedly to the government and the people of South Africa”. The U.S. Department of State has made no comment on the situation so far.

The ship in question is a cargo vessel called Lady R. It is operated by the Refinitiv shipping company. The ship arrived at Simon’s Town naval base near Cape Town in the first week of January this year and sailed to Mozambique. The ship also made a stop in a port in Sudan and arrived at the Russian port of Novorossiysk on the Black Sea on February 16. Lady R’s real-time data shows that after departing from Russia’s Novorossiysk port, it is currently headed to China’s Zhangjiang port.

South African Communications Minister and chairman of the National Conventional Arms Control Committee Mondli Gungubele announced that an inquiry committee headed by a retired judge would investigate the U.S. allegations. “We didn’t approve any arms to Russia, it wasn’t sanctioned or approved by us,” he said.

South Africa is Russia’s closest ally in Africa and a partner state of the BRICS alliance. Western powers have been keeping a close eye on Russia-South African relations especially after Russia and China participated in joint naval drills hosted by South Africa in February this year. Russian navy participated in the naval drills with its Admiral Gorshkov warship which was armed with new-generation hypersonic cruise weapons.

*^{Russian frigate Admiral Gorshkov docks in Durban, South Africa, en route to scheduled naval exercises with the South African and Chinese navies. (Image Credit: Rogan Ward/Reuters)}*

Separately, Russian President Vladimir Putin and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa held a phone call on May 12, 2023. According to the Kremlin, the call was arranged after the request from the South African side.

Kremlin’s statement added that Putin supported Ramaphosa’s proposal to involve African leaders in talks regarding a peace process for Ukraine. South African leadership claims to be a neutral party in the Ukraine conflict and has offered to mediate between the two sides to find a peaceful solution.