South Africa, Russia are old friends

War isn’t going to change that

Ships, sailors and soldiers from Russia and China have begun arriving in South Africa for joint military drills that feature a Russian warship bearing the letters Z and V — Russia’s patriotic symbols for its war in Ukraine — and carrying what Russia boasts is a hypersonic missile.

At a time when many countries have cut ties with Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, South Africa has leaned into its longtime alliance with Moscow — leaving officials in the United States and Europe sputtering in outrage.

South Africa’s leaders have made no apologies. The friendship between South Africa and Russia dates to the struggle against apartheid. In recent months, another Russian ship, the Lady R, a tanker under U. S. sanctions, was welcomed to South African shores. And Russia’s foreign minister joked and smiled with his South African counterpart at a news conference.

Mzuvukile Maqetuka, the South African ambassador to Russia, told Russia’s state- run news outlet Sputnik that the countries were discussing increasing investments in oil and hydroelectric power, and starting direct commercial flights from Moscow to Cape Town.

But U. S. officials have raised an alarm, accusing South African officials of providing material support to Russia’s war effort by allowing the sanctioned vessel to dock. They have warned South Africa against helping Russia evade sanctions.

The European Union, South Africa’s largest trading partner, is also worried that South Africa is “moving further away from a nonaligned position,” Peter Stano, an EU spokesperson, said in a statement.

South Africa denies aiding Russia’s war.

South African government officials insist that South Africa is officially “nonaligned” in keeping with the principles of the Non- Aligned Movement, a coalition of mostly small to midsize nations that came together during the Cold War.