Minister in the Presidency responsible for State Security Khumbudzo Ntshavheni has warned against countries who want to force South Africa to choose sides in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
She said South Africa refuses to be punished by the West for its non-alignment position on the conflict in Ukraine.
Ntshavheni, who was delivering a speech at the meeting of high-ranking officials in Russia this week on security matters, said the country would not be forced to take sides in the conflict.
The West, including Germany, the US and other countries, have cautioned against the stance taken by South Africa.
Ntshavheni was in Moscow ahead of the visit by President Cyril Ramaphosa and five leaders from Africa to try to mediate in the war.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his counterpart in Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, have welcomed the proposal by African leaders to visit Kyiv and Moscow.
Tensions have also been rising between South Africa and the US after the latter’s ambassador accused Pretoria of selling arms to Moscow.
This has been denied by South Africa.
Minister of International Relations and Co-operation Naledi Pandor even had discussions with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on the matter.
Defence Minister Thandi Modise denied that there were tensions between Pretoria and Washington and said to show there were cordial relations between the two countries, 14 senior officials from the military and defence secretariat would be travelling to Washington soon.
Ntshavheni told the meeting in Moscow that the country wanted an end to the conflict in Ukraine.
“With the conflict between Russia and Ukraine and South Africa’s position of demanding respect for the multilateral system, non-alignment and advocating for a peaceful and negotiated resolution of the conflict, we have witnessed attempts to mobilise the South African society against the non-alignment position taken by the government. We are observing claims that the government of South Africa is not able to resolve the economic challenges facing the country because the government has chosen wrong allies, based on the refrain that ‘whomever is not with us, he is against us’.
“We must also indicate that attempts to force South Africa to choose sides is not new in recent years,” said Ntshavheni.
She said South Africa was wrongly accused of taking a pro-Russia stance when it wanted a peaceful resolution to the conflict.
The visit by Ramaphosa and the leaders of Senegal, Congo-Brazzaville, Zambia, Uganda and Egypt is a bid by the continent of Africa to end the war.
“Equally, it is in the interest of South Africa and Africa in general that the ongoing war in Ukraine ends. In the past few months since the outbreak of the war, South Africa has been impacted by the rise of energy prices, food, and inflation and negatively affecting the cost of living in our country and region and continent. South Africa will continue to support efforts to end the conflict between Russia and Ukraine and as a country and a global player, we believe that such a conflict should be ended through peaceful negotiations and engagement. South Africa and other African nations are standing ready to facilitate the negotiations given the lessons we learnt during the negotiations that led to the creation of a free and democratic South Africa. We are encouraged to know that the Russian Federation is equally committed to finding a peaceful resolution of the conflict and restoring an environment of peace with her neighbours,” said Ntshavheni.
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