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South African government under pressure after saying it would ‘welcome’ a visit by Putin

THE South African government came under more pressure on Wednesday after a top official in South Africa’s ruling party said the country would “welcome” a visit by President Vladimir Putin.

Separately, South Africa is facing Western criticism for declining to release cargo documents relating to the visit by a Russian ship that the United States alleges collected a consignment of weapons for Moscow.

The comments by African National Congress (ANC) secretary-general Fikile Mbalula regarding Mr Putin were made in an interview with the BBC ahead of the Russian leader attending a summit of the Brics economic bloc in South Africa in August. 

The bloc is made up of Brazil, Russia, China, India and South Africa.

“If it was according to the ANC, we would want President Putin to be here, even tomorrow, to come to our country,” Mr Mbalula said in the interview. 

“We will welcome him to come here as part and parcel of Brics.”

The South African government has already indicated that it has no intention of arresting Mr Putin in line with an International Criminal Court warrant if he does travel for the summit.

Mr Mbalula accused Western governments of hypocrisy over the arrest warrant because Britain and other Western nations committed crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan and no heads of state were arrested.

Last month Mr Mbalula referred to the United States as one of the countries “messing up the world.”

South Africa has a historical relationship with Russia connected to the old Soviet Union’s military and political support for the ANC when it was a liberation movement fighting to end the racist apartheid regime that oppressed the country’s black majority, which was supported by the US and British governments. 

The widening rift with the US was exposed earlier this month when Reuben Brigety, the US ambassador to South Africa, broke diplomatic protocols by publicly accusing the South Africans of providing weapons to Russia via a cargo ship that docked at a naval base near Cape Town in December. 

Ambassador Brigety said “I would bet my life” that weapons were loaded onto the Russian-flagged Lady R, which is under US sanctions for alleged ties to a company that has transported arms for the Russian government.

The South African government denies it made any arms transaction with Russia. 

On Tuesday, during a parliamentary debate, South Africa’s main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, challenged Defence Minister Thandi Modise to release the cargo manifest for the ship. 

Ms Modise refused the demand.

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