Facing queries, Cyril pulls plug on Saudi trip
Minister set to buck trend when president cancelled her visit
● President Cyril Ramaphosa pulled the plug on state security minister Dipuo Letsatsi-Duba’s trip to Saudi Arabia after questions from the Sunday Times about her planned visit to the kingdom.
On Friday, Letsatsi-Duba’s spokesperson, Lebohang Mafokosi, confirmed that the minister would be travelling to Riyadh to meet the head of Saudi intelligence, Khalid bin Ali al Humaidan, to discuss “issues of mutual interest”.
She also planned to attend a showcase investment conference that has been shunned by a host of Western leaders in the past week as outrage grew over the killing of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi, allegedly by Saudi intelligence operatives.
However, when the Sunday Times asked Ramaphosa’s office why he was sending the minister, given the international outcry over Khashoggi’s death, the president instructed her to pull out of the trip.
The Sunday Times understands that Ramaphosa became aware of Letsatsi-Duba’s intention to travel to Riyadh only after receiving questions from the newspaper.
Yesterday afternoon Letsatsi-Duba’s spokesperson, Mafokosi, said: “The minister will no longer be travelling to Saudi Arabia due to pressing issues in the country that require her urgent attention.”
Critics had described Letsatsi-Duba’s planned trip as Pretoria’s attempt to nurse its relations with the kingdom to avoid a falling out that could lead to the Middle Eastern superpower withdrawing its recent pledges to invest in SA.
Ramaphosa’s administration has been seen as close to the autocratic regime since high-level talks between him and Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz and Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman in Jeddah in July.
On that trip, the Saudis pledged $10bn (R140bn) in response to Ramaphosa’s drive to secure foreign direct investment in SA.
Before Letsatsi-Duba’s trip was called off, the director of the Afro-Middle East Centre, Na’eem Jeenah, said SA was wary of jeopardising its relationship with Saudi Arabia because of the amount of trade between the two countries.
“They buy lots of weapons from SA. They also promised $10bn in investment. So SA doesn’t want to jeopardise that relationship.”
Jeenah said he doubts SA has the muscle to try to hold Saudi Arabia accountable for Khashoggi’s death.
“At best we would ask for an explanation and note their version.”
World leaders, multinationals and the foreign media have in recent days been pulling out of the Future of Investment conference in protest against Khashoggi’s death.
On Thursday, US treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin withdrew from the conference after a backlash over his planned participation. The UK and Canada also announced they would not take part.
Multinationals such as Goldman Sachs have withdrawn and chief executives of companies such as Ford and JPMorgan Chase have decided not to attend.
It is unclear why Letsatsi-Duba wanted to attend the investment conference, rather than one of the economic cluster ministers.
Saudi intelligence has come under fire for its alleged role in the killing of Khashoggi, a dissident journalist who wrote for the Washington Post.
Saudi deputy intelligence chief Maj-Gen Ahmed al-Asiri was sacked yesterday as the Saudi government scrambled to explain what had happened to Khashoggi.
Al-Asiri is said to have picked out the 15 men said to be involved in Khashoggi’s death, CNN reported.
When first approached about the trip, Letsatsi-Duba’s office would not say whether she would convey Pretoria’s condemnation of the brutal killing of the journalist in her meetings in the Saudi capital this week.
“[The department of international relations & co-operation (Dirco)] issued a statement on the Khashoggi matter on October 17 on behalf of the South African government. The minister stands by that position,” said Mafokosi.
Dirco expressed its concern about the Khashoggi matter but fell short of condemning Saudi Arabia or its crown prince for their role in it.
Saudi Arabia first publicly denied any involvement in Khashoggi’s disappearance but claimed yesterday that he died during a “quarrel” while visiting the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey.