The U.S. envoy to South Africa accused government officials of allowing a Russian cargo ship to dock at a naval base near Cape Town so it could be loaded with arms and ammunition for Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
On Thursday, Ambassador Reuben Brigety called the decision to let the Lady R container ship rest at the Simon’s Town naval base “fundamentally unacceptable.”
“We are confident that weapons were loaded onto that vessel. I would bet my life on the accuracy of that assertion,” Mr. Brigety told reporters, according to Newzroom Afrika, a South African satellite channel.
South Africa has close ties with Russia going back to its civil war against the then-ruling apartheid government. But it has adopted a publicly neutral stance on the war in Ukraine. Mr. Brigety said the U.S. isn’t pushing South Africa to rethink that policy.
“All we’re simply requesting is that they be true … to their own principles of nonalignment,” he said. “We’re not asking or telling South Africa to do anything.”
South African officials said Mr. Brigety’s remarks “undermine the spirit of cooperation and partnership” between both countries. The country’s foreign ministry, known as the Department of International Relations and Cooperation, acknowledged that the Lady R docked at the base.
“Allegations have since been made about the purpose of the voyage. While no evidence has been provided to date to support these allegations, the government has undertaken to institute an independent inquiry to be led by a retired judge,” South African government officials said Thursday.
Mr. Brigety said he doesn’t understand the level of hostility toward Washington from the ruling African National Congress party, given the “openness and unprecedented generosity” that the U.S. has provided South Africa for almost a quarter century.
“South Africa is free to choose its diplomatic and economic partners however it chooses. So is the United States of America,” he said. “This is not a matter of bullying — it’s not a matter of threatening. This is how any relationship works.”
South Africa said the U.S. had agreed to let the investigation into the Lady R docking run its course, with America providing whatever evidence it had about the incident.
“It is therefore disappointing that the U.S. ambassador has adopted a counterproductive public posture that undermines the understanding reached on the matter and the very positive and constructive engagements between the two delegations,” according to a statement from South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.
• Mike Glenn can be reached at mglenn@washingtontimes.com.
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