White House lauds Ramaphosa for his handling of Lady R allegations

The White House has commended South Africa for taking seriously allegations around the docking in its waters of Russian cargo vessel Lady R.

This was expressed on Monday during a call between Jake Sullivan and Sydney Mufamadi, the national security advisers to US and South African presidents Joe Biden and Cyril Ramaphosa respectively.

The South African government appointed an independent panel after US ambassador Reuben Brigety alleged Lady R was loaded with arms for Russia when it docked at Simon’s Town naval base in December.

The allegation came when the US was becoming disconcerted with South Africa's non-aligned stance on the Russia-Ukraine war.

It led to a near-diplomatic fallout between the two countries, with calls made for Brigety to be recalled and threats to remove South Africa from the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa). The latter would have had serious implications for this country's economy.

Despite denials from the South African government, including from defence minister Thandi Modise, Ramaphosa appointed an independent panel, led by retired judge Phineas Mojapelo, to look into the allegations.

After months of investigation, the panel found no arms were loaded onto the vessel.

The panel found, as Modise previously asserted, that Lady R offloaded military equipment that was ordered a few years ago and delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic.

In their call, Sullivan told Mufamadi the US was happy with the seriousness with which the allegations were treated.

“National security adviser Sullivan appreciated the seriousness with which President Ramaphosa had addressed the concerns about the Lady R’s activities last year,” the White House said.

“The two national security advisers reaffirmed the strong partnership between South Africa and the US, and recommitted to advance shared priorities, including trade and investment, infrastructure, health and climate.”

The call underlines a strong push to correct diplomatic animosity between the two countries.

According to the White House, the advisers also spoke about the Russia-Ukraine war and “confirmed they would continue to confer on pathways towards a just and lasting peace”.

“National security adviser Sullivan thanked the South Africans for hosting the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) Forum in early November, underscoring the importance of this landmark legislation for US relations with the region.”

Sullivan is also said to have expressed his condolences on the death of South African politician, diplomat and anti-apartheid activist Aziz Pahad, who inspired “South Africans and Americans [with] his unwavering commitment to peace, justice and racial equality”.

TimesLIVE