MOSCOW: South Africa’s ground forces commander has visited Moscow for talks with Russian counterpart just days after the United States accused South Africa of secretly providing weapons to Russia.
The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) said that the meeting was “planned well in advance” as part of “the long-standing arrangement” and was a “goodwill visit” at the invitation of the Russian military.
SANDF said it “confirms the Chief of the SA Army, Lawrence Mbatha, is in Moscow for the talks between the two army establishments”.
It said, “It must be noted that South Africa has army-to-army bilateral ties with various countries in the continent and beyond,” and “The SANDF receives several military delegations into the country and sends its delegations to other countries to negotiate matters of mutual interest.”
The SA National Defence Force Media Statement II Monday, 15 May 2023 II The Chief of the SA Army Official Visit to Russia.
Media Statement by Director Defence Corporate Communication.#SANDF#DCCMediaLiaison pic.twitter.com/HTGFgp0Rkn
— SA National Defence Force (@SANDF_ZA) May 16, 2023
The agencies said Russian news agencies reported that Mbatha was leading the delegation that discussed “problems relating to military interaction and cooperation”. Mbatha had “visited educational institutions of the ground armed forces and enterprises of the military-industrial complex” in Russia.
Russian news agency Interfax said that “Agreements were reached to further hike cooperation between the two ground forces in various fields.”
The previous week, the United States Ambassador to Pretoria Reuben Brigety said, the United States believed arms and ammunition had been loaded onto a Russian freighter that docked at the Cape Town naval base in December.
Brigety said he was confident that a Russian ship under the United States sanctions took on board arms from the Simon’s Town base in December, suggesting the transfer wasn’t in line with Pretoria’s stance of neutrality in Russia’s/Ukraine war.
South African officials swiftly refused claims made by the United States ambassador, who said senior United States officials had “profound concerns” over South Africa’s professed policy of non-alignment and neutrality over Russia’s/Ukraine war.
The claims of secret arms shipments to Russia drew an angry response from South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa, who didn’t deny the charge but said an investigation into the matter would be launched.
