Russian dirty tricks outfit ‘tried to sway votes for ANC’

A KREMLIN-LINKED misinformation organisation tried to sway the general election in South Africa in favour of the ruling African National Congress, according to documents obtained by investigators.

The organisation with ties to Yevgeny Prigozhin, a businessman close to Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, allegedly drew up plans to discredit opposition parties, including the pro-western Democratic Alliance.

The claims, which emerged as voting was under way in South Africa yesterday, are the latest to link Mr Prigozhin to a growing network of Russian influence over African politics.

Known as “Putin’s chef ” because his company provided catering to the Kremlin, he may have deployed as many as 200 strategists across the continent to help sitting presidents win elections, Russian newspapers say.

Mr Prigozhin is under US sanctions after he was accused of running an online “troll factory” to bolster Donald Trump in the 2016 election.

The South African operation was coordinated by Peter Bychkov, a strategist working for Mr Prigozhin, according to documents obtained by the Daily Maverick, a respected South African newspaper, and the Dossier Centre, a London-based investigative unit funded by a Putin critic.

There is no evidence to suggest that Cyril Ramaphosa, South Africa’s president and the leader of the ANC, was aware of the tactics.

Given that opinion polls show the ANC winning an overall majority, it is unclear what the Russian group hoped to achieve.