Ramaphosa in the hot seat as MPs demand answers on Ukraine war

President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday confirmed that he had been approached by two heads of states to discuss SA’s stance on the war between Russia and Ukraine.

“I want to speak to the president of Ukraine. We are also speaking to a number of other world leaders and only last night as I was addressing a dinner I got a message that two other heads of states also want to talk to SA so that the position that we have taken can be taken forward.”

Ramaphosa was responding to a question put to him by the IFP’s Mkhuleko Hlengwa who asked about SA’s policy inconsistency and uncertainly.

“Today you have moved an inch closer to helping us understanding the very confused government outlook on this matter in that there have been many contradictions in what characterised the invasion of Ukraine,” said Hlengwa.

When the war between the two countries ensued, Dirco minister Naledi Pandor initially called for the withdrawal of Russian forces from Ukraine. Later, Ramaphosa called for a more peaceful approach, saying he preferred that the two parties engage in “dialogue, mediation and negotiation”.

SA has been praised and criticised for abstaining from a UN General Assembly vote condemning Russia.

MPs used the opportunity to asked Ramaphosa to clarify the country's position on the matter to which he said: “Our position is very clear. There are those who are insisting that we should take a very adversarial stance and position against Russia and the approach that we have decided to take, which is appreciated by many, is that we are insisting that there should be dialogue.”

He added,  “We are a small economy country and we never want to pretend we have the great influence that many other countries have, but we are being approached and we are saying we are ready to play a role.”

He said what was happening was “undesirable ... not what should be happening between nations, war violence really never solves problems.”

He reminded MPs of the role SA played in the Northern Ireland conflict.

“I got involved, prime minister Tony Blair brought me and president Martti Ahtisaari of Finland into the conflict and we took a view as SA that we were not going to condemn Britain or those in Northern Ireland.

“We took that view because we knew that by condemning, we could foreclose any role that we could play and as a result we were brought in to play a role to implement the Good Friday agreement and in the end we created a very conducive situation for the guns to be silenced in Northern Ireland.”

However, GOOD MP Brett Herron told Ramaphosa that denouncing the war was not enough and asked him to share details of SA’s involvement in the mediation process.

“We have been approached by a number of interlocutors, some of whom are not playing a direct role in the conflict and we have said when called upon to do so, we are ready to make a contribution, however minor.”

ANC MP Thabo Mmutle quizzed Ramaphosa on the UN’s role on the matter, forcing the president to explain that “one of the reasons why the UN was set up was to ensure that there is peace and stability and avoidance of conflict in the world.

“The Security Council was supposed to engender the building of peace around the world but its architecture, which excludes other voices, much as they participate on a non-permanent basis, their voices while present do not have the same weight and affect as those of the permanent members.

“That is why we are saying, particularly our continent, is continuing to urge that the UNSC should be reformed and other countries should be enabled to participate.”

Ramaphosa said the Security Council should consider including countries from all over the world so that different voices are considered.

“If that were to happen, I believe that the Security Council would be able to be a much better structure of the UN, ensuring that there is peace and stability in the world and bringing together many other voices like the African continent, which has never really enjoyed a permanent seat.

“We think that we have a role to play and we can add a great deal of value in the building of peace in the world, and therefore it is for this reason that we say the absence of other countries on the Security Council as permanent members weakens the peace efforts of the UN and that is why we continue to insist that it should be reformed,” he said. 

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