The government has decided not to demand an apology from the US, whose ambassador to Pretoria Reuben E Brigety caused a diplomatic storm between the two countries after accusing SA of providing arms to Russia.
President Cyril Ramaphosa’s national security adviser, Sydney Mufamadi, said the government has decided not to push for a recall of Brigety after a panel established by the president found there was no evidence that SA loaded arms onto the Russian ship Lady R as alleged by the US ambassador.
The allegations, which were made by Brigety in May, soured relations between Pretoria and Washington for months, and led to the weakening of the rand and government bonds, as well as the decline of general business confidence in SA.
“What I can say is they [the US] believed it then but that they do not believe it now. The reality is that a key pillar of diplomacy is that we need to look beyond incidents. What has been more important for us is to confront the relationship [with the US] that was lurching into a bad state,” Mufamadi said in an exclusive interview with Business Day after a call with his US counterpart Jake Sullivan on Tuesday.
Mufamadi said that after a series of high-level meetings between the two countries, he is confident the US no longer believes arms were loaded onto the Lady R.
A memo issued by the US reads Sullivan told Mufamadi he appreciated the “seriousness” with which Ramaphosa addressed the claims about the Lady R in 2022.
Just peace
“The two national security advisers reaffirmed the strong partnership between SA and the US, and recommitted to advance shared priorities including trade and investment, infrastructure and climate,” the memo reads.
“With regard to Russia’s war in Ukraine, they confirmed they would continue to confer on pathways towards a just and lasting peace,” the US said in the memo.
This comes after a high-level intervention by Ramaphosa and trade, industry & competition minister Ebrahim Patel to push for the extension of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa), SA’s preferential trade agreement with the US, which is set to expire in 2025.
In the call with Mufamadi, Sullivan said the US now understood SA’s neutral stance on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“Sceptics asked what he can get out of talking to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin — now we are seeing the results. The shuttle by African leaders between Ukraine and Russia is beginning to see results. [Ukraine President Volodymyr] Zelensky told [Ramaphosa] this when they met in New York. He cited that there has been a prisoner exchange and release of some children. The US now understands [that] SA’s active commitment to nonalignment is not just a platitude,” Mufamadi said.
Sullivan also thanked SA for hosting the Agoa forum in early November. More than 30 trade ministers from the US and Africa will attend the forum.
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