Mashatile slams Russia-Ukraine African peace initiative 'doomsayers'

ANC deputy president Paul Mashatile has hit back at “cynics” who labelled as a “failure” President Cyril Ramaphosa’s recent peace initiative in Russia and Ukraine.

“We note that cynics have, as is their wont, rushed to impose a death sentence on the African effort by describing it prematurely as a failure. It is difficult to understand how these doomsayers expected that a solution to the conflict would have been sought and found after just one meeting,” he said. 

Ramaphosa and other African heads of state, including Egypt's Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, Senegal's President Macky Sall, the Comoros' President Azali Assoumani and Zambia's President Hakainde Hichilema, visited the two countries in June in a bid to broker peace in the conflict which broke out in February last year.

The trip, which was widely criticised, took place as South Africa grapples with an International Criminal Court arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin. The country is a signatory to the Rome Statute and is therefore obliged to arrest the Russian president if he visits South Africa for the Brics Summit in August.

Mashatile used his opening address at the Brics Political Parties Dialogue at the Birchwood Hotel in Boksburg on Tuesday to slam those who criticised the trip. He also reiterated his party’s non-aligned stance on the Russia-Ukraine war, saying: “South Africa has been subjected to immense pressure to choose a side in the ongoing war in Ukraine.

“The ANC would like to firmly reiterate its anti-war stance, which we have asserted since the war began more than a year ago. We are for the silencing of the guns in Ukraine, the achievement of genuine peace and peaceful coexistence between Russia, Ukraine and the neighbourhood.

“We are fully behind the African peace initiative led by President Cyril Ramaphosa and other African heads of state and government to find a peaceful solution to the conflict by initiating dialogue between presidents Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky.

“Nevertheless, we are confident the African peace initiative will ultimately succeed. We are keenly aware that the solution will not be found overnight.

“The ANC also believes that true, inclusive multilateralism — of the type with which all Brics members would, in principle, be aligned — involves the reform of institutions of global governance, especially the UN Security Council.

“The ANC proposes that this political party summit adopts a public call for the reform of the UN Security Council, more so the inclusion of the African continent in the global decision-making body.

“The combined influence and potential of Brics cannot be understated. For this reason, we should expect that it will have detractors who will, from time to time, throw spanners in the works to frustrate us from realising our goals,” he said.

The Brics Political Parties Plus Dialogue, taking place from Tuesday to Thursday, is a gathering of more than 50 political parties ahead of the summit involving Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, which is the chair of this year's event.

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