Despite charges from the United States, an independent investigation found no proof that South Africa had sent Russia weaponry for the war in Ukraine, according to South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Sunday (Sept. 3).
“In recent months, statements from various [sides] have used these accusations to question South Africa’s commitment to its position on the Russia-Ukraine conflict,” Ramaphosa said in an address to the nation late on Sunday.
Reuben Brigety, the US ambassador, stated on May 11 during a news conference in Pretoria that South Africa had supplied Russia with weaponry through the Russian ship Lady R, which had berthed at the Simon’s Town naval port in Cape Town (south-west) in December of the previous year.
“We (the U.S.) are confident that weapons were loaded into that vessel, and I would bet my life on the accuracy of that assertion,” Brigety said. He called South Africa’s “arming” of Russia “fundamentally unacceptable.”
“Amongst the things that we noted, were the docking of the Russian Cargo ship Lady R in Simons Town, between December 6th and December 8th, 22, which we are confident uploaded weapons, ammunitions onto that vessel in Simons Town as it made its way back to Russia.”
In response to the allegations, Ramaphosa formed an independent investigation and chose retired judge Phineas Mojapelo to serve as its chair.
“From its investigation, the panel found no evidence that any cargo of weapons was loaded for export onto the ship Lady R. The panel found that there was no evidence to support the claim that the ship transported weapons from South Africa destined for Russia,” the head of state emphasized in his speech.
Over one hundred documents were presented for the panel to evaluate while it was conducting its investigation, which included a visit to the Simon’s Town naval facility and sworn evidence from nearly fifty individuals at all relevant levels of government.
- Detrimental Effect of Accusations
“The accusations levelled against our country had a detrimental effect on our currency, our economy and our position in the world,” the president stressed.
The value of the nation’s Rand decreased as a result of Brigety’s remarks.
“The panel established that the ship docked at Simons Town to deliver equipment that had been ordered for the South African National Defense Force in 2018 by Armscor,” Ramaphosa added.
The panel’s full report will not be released to the public: “Given the fact that the evidence given to the panel was classified and the fact that revealing the details of the equipment offloaded could jeopardize the work and safety of South Africa’s forces in various deployment on the continent, I have decided not to release the panel’s full report.”
