As part of a bilateral meeting, the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) said on Monday that its army chief, Lawrence Mbatha, was in Moscow. While there, he would visit Russian military academies and have discussions with officials.
“It must be noted that South Africa has military-to-military bilateral relations with various countries in the continent and beyond,” the SANDF said in a statement, adding that the meeting in Russia was planned well in advance.
On Monday morning, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa restated his nation’s demand for a peaceful end to the war in Ukraine and claimed that the country’s non-alignment approach did not favour Russia over other nations.
The statements were made by Ramaphosa in a biweekly presidential bulletin. A diplomatic dispute erupted last week after the United States claimed that weapons were carried onboard the Russian ship Lady R from a naval facility in Cape Town late last year.
South African officials swiftly rejected claims made by the U.S. ambassador to South Africa, Reuben Brigety, who also said senior U.S. officials had “profound concerns” over South Africa’s professed policy of non-alignment and neutrality over Russia’s war in Ukraine.
“We do not accept that our non-aligned position favours Russia above other countries. Nor do we accept that it should imperil our relations with other countries,” Ramaphosa said.
He continued by saying that South Africa would uphold the international conventions and bilateral treaties to which it is a party and would adhere to them in its response to American allegations of an arms shipment.
The charges made by the ambassador have not been backed up by any tangible proof, according to Ramaphosa’s office, but an investigation led by a retired judge will look into them.
Several ministers, including the one in charge of arms control, a spokeswoman for the foreign ministry, and the minister of communications have stated that South Africa had not authorised any shipments of arms to Russia in December.
Brigety was summoned on Friday to meet South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor and he apologised “unreservedly” to the government and the people of South Africa, a foreign ministry statement said.
“I was grateful for the opportunity to speak with Foreign Minister Pandor … and correct any misimpressions left by my public remarks,” Brigety said in a tweet that did not confirm whether he had apologised.
South Africa, which has abstained from voting on U.N. resolutions on Russia’s war in Ukraine, says it is impartial. Western countries, however, consider it one of Moscow’s closest allies on the continent.