Nothing wrong with a ‘Red’ friend

Even before the wheels of the two giant Russian Tupolev TU-160 “Blackjack” supersonic nuclear bombers had touched the tarmac at Air Force Base Waterkloof this week, there were already screams of “Rooi gevaar!” (Red peril) from some quarters in South Africa. Somehow, the visit by the Russian Air Force is, in the mind of some, the first step towards being conquered by President Vladimir Putin in his campaign to be the King of the World. Sadly, that view is little but regurgitated Western propaganda which still seeks to demonise anyone who dares to challenge US-Western European global dominance.

There is no denying that Russia has geopolitical interests in Africa. There have been recent reports of Russian military equipment, and Russian “private military contractors” being used in Mozambique to protect gas installations in the north of the country and to keep Islamic fighters in check in that area.

South Africa is also a member of the Brics (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) economic group … albeit a tiny part in comparison to the others. President Cyril Ramaphosa has been in Sochi, Russia this week for a summit hosted by Putin.

And what is wrong with our friendship with Russia? As long as we are not beholden to either power bloc and we are respected for our foreign policy, then there is nothing to change.

Undoubtedly, the Russians would still like to implement that R1 trillion nuclear-build programme, which was put on ice with the collapse of the Jacob Zuma regime. It has not been dismissed completely from our side, either. That is an area of concern – but more for the possibility of weapons grade corruption than any safety concerns or fears we will be “captured” by Moscow.

The world is not the same place it was in 1990 when the Soviet Union collapsed. It’s time we realised that.