Johannesburg - Experts said the government should have been upfront about the Russian vessel known as Lady R’s business in Simon's Town, Western Cape.
President Cyril Ramaphosa appointed a three-member independent panel to inquire into the circumstances of the docking of the vessel in December 2022.
On May 11, 2023, Ramaphosa announced that he would establish an independent inquiry headed by a retired judge.
This development came amid the US Embassy in South Africa's Reuben Brigety accusing South Africa of providing Russia with weapons and ammunition for the Ukraine war.
Brigety claimed the weapons and ammunition were loaded onto a Russian ship.
Ramaphosa appointed Judge PMD Mojapelo as chairperson, Advocate Leah Gcabashe, SC, and Enver Surty, as members of the panel.
Spokesperson to the president, Vincent Magwenya, said through this inquiry, the government seeks to establish the circumstances that led to the docking of the ship, the alleged loading of cargo, and the departure of the Lady R cargo ship from Simon's Town during the period from December 6 to 9, 2022.
‘’The president decided to establish the inquiry because of the seriousness of the allegations, the extent of public interest, and the impact of this matter on South Africa’s international relations,’’ said Magwenya.
He said the panel had been tasked with establishing who was aware of the cargo ship’s arrival and, if any, the contents to be offloaded or loaded, the departure and destination of the cargo.
Magwenya said the panel would evaluate whether constitutional, legal, or other obligations were complied with in relation to the cargo ship’s arrival, its stay, the loading or off-loading of its contents, and its departure.
He said the panel’s report would include recommendations on any steps that may need to be taken in light of their findings or as a result of any breaches that may have occurred.
‘’The panel will report directly to the president and will be supported administratively by personnel in the Presidency assigned to this task by the Director-General in the Presidency,’’ he said.
Magwenya said the panel would finalise its investigation within six weeks of its appointment and will be expected to submit its report to the president within two weeks of concluding its work.
Governance expert Professor Zwelinzima Ndevu, speaking in an interview with one of the broadcasters, said there shouldn't be a need for an investigation into the alleged sale of arms by South Africa to Russia.
‘’It is puzzling indeed that a government department cannot provide information to the President or to other state organs in order to ensure that this international relations or partnership process is not jeopardised at the international level. I certainly think there is no need for a commission of inquiry. The Department of Defence must be able to give details as to why the ship was talking there and how it was allowed. What was it uploading and offloading into the ship? That should be a simple process. One has no confidence that the commission of inquiry that has been appointed will really get to the bottom of what really happened. We have seen so many commissions of inquiry that are not really getting to the point as to what might be the issue,’’ said Ndevu.
International relations expert Ayesha Kajee expressed concern over the lack of communication between the presidency and other ministers.
‘’There seems to be a lack of communication between, for example, the presidency and the Department of Defence, and even the members of parliament. So it doesn't seem to me that anybody in the government currently knows exactly what happened. And it does seem to me that there is some attempt to conceal what happened because, as I said before, why was the transformer switched off? Why was the harbour master told not to board the ship? That's normal for harbour masters to do, and why was the cargo, whatever was coming into South Africa, offloaded in secrecy, and why was whatever was unloaded onto that also done in secrecy? What is so highly classified information that we can't just make it public at this point?’’ said Kajee.
International relations expert Brooks Spector said the government should have been upfront without appointing the panel.
‘’It just still dumbfounds me that the government here has gotten itself into this angle by not simply coming out and saying, wait a minute, here's the documentation from the conventional weapons control council, which is the governing authority for sales, transfers, or purchases, even military hardware. Instead, they have now put themselves in a position of having appointed a commission, which we'll look into, which may well find data that is not very pleasant for the ruling or governing party or the government,’’ said Spector.
The Star