Johannesburg, May 13. South Africa’s special national security adviser Sydney Mufamadi said today that his country is “actively non-aligned” in Russia’s war against Ukraine, after US allegations that he had supplied Moscow with weapons.
“Saying that we are (…) non-aligned does not mean that we do not have an opinion on wars in general,” Mufamadi said in statements collected by the SABC public channel.
In this sense, the special security adviser stressed that South Africa is against armed conflicts and that it will do “everything necessary and possible” to avoid them.
The controversy arose after last Thursday the US ambassador, Reuben Brigety, assured at a press conference in Pretoria that South Africa provided weapons to Russia through the Russian ship “Lady R”, which docked at the Simon’s Town naval base, in Cape Town (south-west), in December 2022.
Brigety spoke to South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor yesterday, Friday, to “correct any misinterpretation left by my public comments.”
Brigety said in his account on the social network Twitter that in the conversation he reaffirmed “the solid alliance” between the United States and South Africa, as well as “the important agenda” of issues that both presidents have.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken also called on Pandor yesterday to stress the importance of the US-South Africa strategic relationship as well as cooperation on trade, health and energy issues, the State Department reported.
As reported by the South African channel News24, the US ambassador had stated that “among the things we noticed was the docking of the merchant at the Simon’s Town naval base between December 6 and 8, 2022, and we are sure that it loaded weapons there.” and ammunition back to Russia”.
The president of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, affirmed last Thursday that his government is investigating the allegations of the US ambassador and explained that he will give more details when the investigation is complete.
South Africa claims to have adopted a neutral stance on the war in Ukraine and has called for dialogue to resolve the conflict.
This position is not only linked to the strategic political and economic role that Moscow has in some African countries, but also to historical reasons such as Russian support for the anti-colonialist and liberation movements of the 20th century, and the fight against the segregationist regime of the ” apartheid” in the case of South Africa. EFE
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