The week of 28 October to 01 November saw an anti-climactic series of diplomatic activities take place in Pretoria, leaving some furious and many more scratching their heads about what exactly took place.
On Monday, 28 October, Minister of International Relations and Co-operation, Ronald Lamola, hosted his Ukrainian counterpart, Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, for a series of meetings “aimed at strengthening bilateral relations” between South Africa and Ukraine.
One of the outcomes of the talks was the announcement that government had granted “visa-free access to our country for Ukrainian holders of diplomatic, official and service passports, and vice versa.” This announcement was released a day earlier by Home Affairs Minister Dr Leon Schreiber, who the ANC accused of trying to take credit. According to the Presidency, the agreement had been in the works since 2020.
A week earlier, while at the BRICS Summit 2024 in Kazan, Russia, President Cyril Ramaphosa referred to Russia as an “ally”, an act which angered members of the Democratic Alliance (DA), who have shown their support for Ukraine, and spoken against Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine.
Further, among the delegation members at the Summit, was the Chief of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), General Rudzani Maphwanya.
When asked why the General was in attendance, Minister Lamola stated “it’s how government business is conducted,” adding that all relevant Ministers and stakeholders who form part of the core of government were there.
“We had a delegation of all ministers, those that were relevant for the BRICS Summit, which deals with a number of developmental issues. When the principal is there, it will also go that the people responsible at the operations level will be there. Even from our side the DGs (Director Generals), the officials were there. That’s why the Minister of Defence was there, Minister Ntshavheni, also with the DG, [and] Minister Tau,” stated Minister Lamola.
Further, he noted that Government had “participated in that platform [to] continue to enhance and strengthen our BRICS platform as an important platform for the Global South and for the developing world. For us to advocate for the development and needs of our country, which we must continue to advocate for, and also to continue to strengthen what we have now made as a priority in the Government of National Unity, the fight against the triple challenge, of unemployment, economic growth and to defeat poverty.”
However, according to the Russian News Agency Tass, General Maphwanya was in Moscow “to discuss military cooperation,” with the Russian Ministry of Defence noting that “the sides reached agreements on further enhancing military cooperation in various fields.”
To complicate matters, on 29 October, as the Ukrainian Delegation was wrapping up its visit, reports emerged that two Russian Tu-160 “Blackjack” strategic bombers were on route to Waterkloof Air Force Base.
Ahead of the bomber pair was an Antonov An-124 strategic Airlifter, which touched down just after 12pm. This specific aircraft, number 82040, was identified by Ukrainian authorities as one of three aircraft transporting munitions into Belarus for use against Ukraine.
Shortly after the aircraft’s arrival, the SANDF issued a statement saying, “this friendly visit aims to reaffirm the diplomatic ties held by both countries’ military organisations and comes on the back of strong historical links existing between both countries dating as far back as February 28, 1992.”
Furthermore, the statement noted the SANDF would “emerge as big heirs of this visit which sets a platform for the SA Air Force to gain knowledge and exposure.”
It became clear, that while hosting Ukraine, the Government and SANDF were focused on playing up the relationship with Russia. However, come 30 October, there were no Tu-160 aircraft at Waterkloof Air Force Base. The SANDF then issued a statement that simply noted “The arrival of the Tupolev Tu-160 ‘Blackjack’ strategic bombers of the Aerospace Forces of the Russian Federation has been postponed.”
On Friday, 01 November, the Antonov An-124 departed and headed back to Russia. No further details were given by the SANDF, and to date it remains unknown why there was a postponement, or whether the visit was cancelled last minute.
Two Tu-160s visited Waterkloof in October 2019 to coincide with the opening of the first Russia-Africa summit.
