A fortnight ago, portions of the independent panel’s report on the Lady R debacle were leaked to the media, suggesting that the Russian vessel under sanctions did not pick up arms or ammunition from SA.
Last December, the Russian ship docked in Simon’s Town, the Western Cape naval base, carrying unknown cargo. Western diplomats believed the vessel might have picked up weapons from SA to arm the beleaguered Russian army, which has been fighting an unwinnable illegal war in Ukraine.
The Lady R saga led to the rand plunging and SA’s trade and diplomatic relations with the West hitting rock bottom.
Pushed into a corner to come clean about the cargo the vessel loaded and unloaded, President Cyril Ramaphosa appointed an independent panel to investigate and report to him. This bought him time to concentrate on the other hot potato — persuading Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president, to stay home next week instead of attending the Brics summit in SA.
The panel, chaired by retired judge John Mojapelo, has concluded its work. It was hoped that a combination of a busy news cycle and the leak would make the controversy go away. It hasn’t. In fact, the leak appears to have generated more heat for Pretoria.
If he is serious about clean and open governance, Ramaphosa needs to immediately release the panel’s final report.
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