Reuben Brigety, the US ambassador to South Africa, had earlier informed regional media at a briefing that Washington was certain that a Russian ship had uploaded weapons and ammunition from South Africa in December.
Written by Chris Muhizi Minembwe Capital News 12:15am Nairobi Kenya Time.
In a briefing to local journalists, Brigety said, “Among the things we noted were the docking of the Russian cargo ship Lady R in Simon’s Town between December 6 and December 8, 2022, which we are confident uploaded weapons, ammunitions… as it made its way back to Russia.”
Cyril Ramaphosa, the president of South Africa, has said that an inquiry is under after the US ambassador in Pretoria accused the nation of arming Russia despite its official neutrality in the conflict in the Ukraine.
Washington has frequently cautioned countries against providing material help to Russia, cautioning that those who do may be denied access to the world’s most crucial markets.
The government is opening an independent inquiry led by a retired judge into the allegation, Ramaphosa’s office said in a statement on Thursday.
“Arming of Russia by South Africa with the vessel … is fundamentally unacceptable,” Brigety said, adding that top US officials had “profound concerns” about South Africa not obeying its claimed policy of non-alignment and neutrality with regard to Russia’s conflict.