ARMS STORM
…US envoy says SA gave weapons, ammunition to Russia for Ukraine war
JOHANNESBURG - The US has accused South Africa of providing ammunition to Russia through a Russian ship that docked at the Simon's Town naval base in Cape Town in December last year.
But the minister who chairs the country’s National Conventional Arms Control Committee, Mondli Gungubele, told alocal radio station 702 yesterday that South Africa did not approve any arms shipment to Russia.
US ambassador to South Africa Reuben Brigety said America was convinced that SA, despite the fact that it claims it takes a non-aligned stance on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, had supplied arms to Vladimir Putin’s army.
"Among the things we noted was the docking of the cargo ship in the Simon's Town naval base between 6th to 8th December, 2022, which we are confident uploaded weapons and ammunition onto that vessel in Simon's Town as it made its way back to Russia," said the ambassador.
Brigety told journalists that the US government took the matter seriously.
"The arming of the Russians is extremely serious, and we do not consider this issue to be resolved, and we would like SA to (start) practising its non-alignment policy," he said.
Brigety's spirited engagement with the media on Thursday follows his trip back to the US with a delegation of SA officials led by Sydney Mufamadi, who sought to ensure that South Africa did not fall foul of the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa).
Meanwhile, President Cyril Ramaphosa’s office said on Thursday that his government would open an inquiry led by a retired judge into the allegation that arms had been shipped to Russia.
Clement Manyathela, the 702 radio host wrote on Twitter that Gungubele told his show that if weapons were loaded onto a vessel bound for Russia from South Africa that was illegal and inappropriate.