SOUTH Africans were left angry and baffled on Friday after the US accused their country of secretly shipping arms to Russia, a charge that triggered both a government rebuke but also the announcement of an inquiry.
US ambassador Reuben Brigety on Thursday said Washington was confident weapons and ammunition had been laden onto a Russian freighter that docked at a Cape Town naval base.
The explosive remarks drew an angry response from President Cyril Ramaphosa, who however did not deny the charge but said a retired judge would lead an investigation into the matter.
The move was welcomed by the United States but met with a mix of ridicule and bewilderment at home, with many questioning how the government could not have known what had happened.
“It perhaps points to a South African president who simply is unaware of what is happening effectively under his nose,” political and economic analyst Daniel Silke told AFP.
The emerging picture was of “information disarray” within the government, he said.
The Lady R, a cargo vessel under western sanctions flying a Russian flag, docked at South Africa’s largest naval base in December, officially to offload an old order of ammunition.
But ambassador Brigety said intelligence showed weaponry was loaded onto the vessel before it headed back to Russia.
“Did we or didn’t we? And if we did, shouldn’t the president know?” Bongani Bingwa, host of a popular morning radio show, wrote on Twitter.
Others quipped that the government appeared to be setting up inquiries for everything.
The deadline for the latest investigation has not been revealed, and there has been no immediate announcement as to who will lead it.
