Deputy President David "DD" Mabuza wouldn’t be drawn, on Thursday, into answering whether he discussed SA’s upcoming elections with the Russians when he visited the country last month‚ but he was clear that nuclear was not on the agenda.
Mabuza was answering MPs’ oral questions in the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) on Thursday afternoon. He told MPs that he went to Russia at President Cyril Ramaphosa’s request to convey SA’s message of congratulations to Russian President Vladimir Putin on his re-election and inauguration, which Ramaphosa was unable to attend.
Mabuza said he never met with the Russian president but had a meeting with the country’s foreign affairs minister.
"In our discussions we renewed SA’s commitment to further develop the good relationship we have with Russia, guided by the 2013 joint declaration on strategic partnership. We further discussed the importance of the implementation of the provision of the declaration‚ especially pertaining to annual political consultation by foreign ministers and consultations at presidential level.
— He said the two countries had fostered economic relations and strengthened their strategic relationship. They had also discussed the state of SA’s readiness to host the 10th Brics summit in Johannesburg next month.
"In those engagements‚ we [discussed when] bureaucrats will meet to prepare for a Brics summit."
He said that the two countries had fostered economic relations and strengthened their strategic relationship. They had also discussed SA’s readiness to host the 10th Brics summit in Johannesburg next month.
The two leaders also discussed UN reforms, in which SA had enlisted Russia’s support for SA’s candidature for the non-permanent seat in the UN Security Council. SA clinched that seat with an overwhelming vote earlier this month, with Russia among its backers.
"In all the issues I’ve referred to above‚ there is no mention of nuclear and no discussion has taken place regarding the so-called nuclear deal‚" said Mabuza. "No reference was made about any current or future agreement, [but] having said that‚ our government’s position on nuclear remains that it is part of our energy mix to diversify our sources of energy. Our integrated resource plan, to be concluded later in the year, will determine the role of nuclear in that mix‚" said Mabuza.
He was responding to prepared questions from DA MP Bronwynn Engelbrecht who wanted to know about the discussions with Putin and the Russian government regarding the nuclear deal and whether any current and/or future agreements were made regarding nuclear power.
The assassination question
Engelbrecht followed up with a question which appeared to annoy Mabuza and some ANC MPs: "In light of your discussions with the Russian minister of foreign affairs‚ can you please confirm whether or not you discussed the modus operandi for the conduct of political assassinations in the light of your own history of alleged involvement in political murders and in the Russian government’s alleged history of conducting political assassinations?"
This question led to a short stand-off between Engelbrecht and Jomo Nyambi‚ who was presiding over the session. Nyambi described it as "offensive‚ unbecoming and against the rules"‚ but in the end he decided that it was up to Mabuza to answer it.
Mabuza chose to address the matter. "Firstly‚ we have not discussed any political assassinations‚ that was not on the agenda. I’ve listed all the things we discussed."
He made the standard call on this matter‚ inviting people who had information about political killings to report them to law enforcement agencies rather than repeating allegations in the house.
Another DA MP Beyers Smit wanted to know whether Mabuza had discussed "the modus operandi for the conduct of rigging elections ahead of this country’s upcoming elections, in the light of the Russian government’s alleged involvement in rigging elections in both their own country and in other democracies. This is where Mabuza drew the line‚ saying he would no longer answer new questions that were not relevant to the original question.
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