The U.S. ambassador to South Africa accused South Africa of providing arms and ammunition to Russia for the war in Ukraine via a cargo ship secretly docked at a naval base near Cape Town for three days in December last year. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said an investigation was ongoing.
According to reports reported by multiple South African media outlets, US Ambassador to South Africa Reuben Bridgetti said, “The US is confident that the equipment will be loaded onto Russian ships at the Simonstown Naval Base and then transported to Russia.”
President Ramaphosa was answering questions in Congress when news of Ambassador Brigiti’s remarks broke. When asked by a congressman about weapons and ammunition, President Ramaphosa replied, “The matter is under investigation and in time we will be able to talk about it.”
President Ramaphosa declined to comment further, citing the need for an investigation.
Opposition leader John Steenhewison asked the president if South Africa was actively arming Russian soldiers who were killing and injuring innocent people. Steen Hewison also asked if President Ramaphosa could confirm that “weapons of war” were on board the Russian ship.
Ammunition supply became a major Russian problem in the war. Wagner, a Russian private mercenary group, complained last week, claiming that mercenaries in Ukraine are suffering from severe ammunition shortages.
The South African president’s office, in a statement released late on the 11th, acknowledged that a Russian vessel named “Lady R” was docked in South Africa, but did not specify where or for what purpose, the Associated Press reported.
The statement also condemned the US ambassador and said that US intelligence agencies had agreed to provide all evidence they had to assist South Africa’s investigation.
Lady R and its related Russian company, Transmorflot LLC, were sanctioned last year by the United States for their involvement in the transportation of military equipment and arms following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Ambassador Bridgety called into question South Africa’s neutral stance earlier this morning, saying that claims that South Africa armed Russia during its invasion of Ukraine were “very serious”.
At a press conference held in Pretoria, South Africa’s administrative capital, Ambassador Brigitte said, “One of the things we (the United States) paid attention to was the cargo ship docked at the Simonstown Naval Base from December 6 to 8, 2022.” “I’m sure the ship in Simon’s Town was loaded with weapons and ammunition.”
The Associated Press reported that it had independently confirmed that the Lady R docked at Simonstown Naval Base within the deadline cited by Ambassador Brigitte.
MarineTraffic, which collects real-time ship location data around the world, tracked the Lady R off the coast of South Africa in early December of last year, but the communication signal was cut off on December 5 of the same year. Ships are required by international law to turn on their transponders (vessel positioning devices) at sea. Smugglers often turn off transponders to hide their movements.
Satellite images obtained by the AP showed the same length, color and disposition as the Lady R docked at the naval base the next day (December 6) and remained there until December 8. The Associated Press also obtained photos of the ship at the naval base, reporting that it had the name “Lady R” clearly visible on the stern in both English and Russian.
The Lady R departed on 9 December 2022 and the transponder signal reappeared on 10 December. On February 22 of this year she returned to the Russian port of Novorossiysk on the Black Sea.
According to The Guardian, in January, an opposition party in South Africa raised questions about the existence of a “mysterious” Russian ship docked at the Simmons Town base. At the time, the government did not comment publicly on this.
The government of South Africa, a key US partner in Africa, has repeatedly stated that it has a neutral stance on the war in Ukraine and wants the conflict to be resolved peacefully.
But South Africa invited Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in January to provide a platform to criticize the West for the war in Ukraine. A few weeks later, South Africa allowed battleships from the Russian and Chinese navies to conduct exercises off its east coast. The Russian Navy brought in one of its navy’s flagships, the frigate Goshkov, and the exercise strained South Africa’s relations with the United States and other Western allies.
The South African Navy also took part in the exercise at the time and described it as “strengthening already thriving relations between South Africa, Russia and China”.
South Africa also faces a diplomatic dilemma as a potential visit this year by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is facing arrest by the International Criminal Court for war crimes related to the abduction of Ukrainian children, has emerged.
President Putin will visit South Africa in August for a summit of the BRICs, which are made up of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
As a member of the International Criminal Court, South Africa has an obligation to arrest Putin. The South African government has indicated it will not arrest the Russian leader and instead threatened to leave the ICC, but Ramaphosa’s office last month issued a statement retracting the threat.
Source: Donga