South Africa accused of supplying weapons to Russia
The United States is confident that South
Africa supplied weapons to Russia for the war against Ukraine, despite its
nominal claims of neutrality, South African news outlet News24 reported on May
11, citing U.S. Ambassador to South Africa Reuben Brigety.
According to the report, Washington took note of Russian cargo ship Lady R docking at the Simon's Town naval base on December 6-8, 2022.
“Among the things we noted was the docking of the cargo ship in the Simon's Town naval base between 6th to 8th of December, 2022, which we are confident uploaded weapons and ammunition onto that vessel in Simon's Town as it made its way back to Russia,” Brigety said.
"We are confident that weapons were loaded onto that vessel and I will bet my life on the accuracy of that assertion."
The ambassador has also expressed concerns about South Africa's military exercises with Russia and China on the anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Reuters subsequently reported that the South African rand reached its lowest level against the U.S. dollar since April 2020 amid these reports.
The docking of the Russian sanctions-busting cargo ship, Lady R, near the military naval base in South Africa in December raised concerns. The Wall Street Journal reported that containers with unknown contents were moved onto and off the ship over two nights under armed guard. The ship's transponder was turned off during this time, and it was only turned back on more than 160 km east of Simon's Town.
In May 2022, the United States imposed sanctions on Russian company Transflot and its six vessels, including Lady R, for transporting weapons for Russia's war against Ukraine.
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