Thandi Modise, the defense minister of South Africa, has arrived in Moscow for a conference on global security.
Modise’s visit takes place as Russian forces continue their continuous invasion of Ukraine and control the biggest nuclear power plant in Europe. Additionally, it occurs just after U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited South Africa, a visit that was made in part to garner greater support from Africa against Russia’s invasion.
Several experts contend that Modise’s attendance at the 10th Moscow Conference on International Security proves South Africa is siding with Russia even though the government has constantly declared its neutrality in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
“We have not seen any condemnation of Russia, despite the dire impact of the war on the supply of goods and services in South Africa, said Ralph Mathekga, a political analyst at Geopolitical Intelligence Services. “And, also, when you look at attending a defense-kind of a forum in a moment such as this, I mean I cannot imagine any stronger indication of support of Russia,” he said.
Given that U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken recently paid a visit to South Africa last week, Mathekga thinks it’s a blow to relations between the two countries.
“It actually says that South Africa is nailing its colours to the mast.,” he said. “I think it was a frustrating visit for the secretary of state because South Africa did not hold back on their indication that they are not going to pick sides on this, they are not going to be bullied by global powers in their continued cold war as it’s being called.”
While South Africa may be eager to rely on its larger BRICS allies, China and India, to help it through these difficult economic times, Mathekga cautions that it should not disregard the fact that the European Union and the United States are two of its top trading partners.
South Africa’s membership in the Peace and Security Council of the African Union certainly prevented it from declining the offer, according to Sipho Mantula, a scholar at the Thabo Mbeki African School on Public and International Affairs.
He claims that in the 1960s and 1970s, Russia assisted in the training of independence fighters in numerous African states.
“The conflict of Russia and Ukraine is absent from this official program. The key issues that will come out will be around dealing with international global terrorism, the issues of the Middle East and North Africa,” he said.