South Africa’s defiance on pressure to isolate Russia

Solly Rakgomo | Monday February 27, 2023 06:00

The joint military exercises come after Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov visited South Africa for bilateral talks in January. The military games will run for 10 days in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Durban.

The war game comes on the eve of the anniversary of the special military operations against Ukraine by Russia. South Africa said nearly 400 members of its armed forces will take part in the exercises with its Russian and Chinese counterparts. The drills run under the name Operation Mosi, which when translated to English, means smoke. It is very interesting to note that Russia has sent its battleship, the Admiral Gorshkov, which is armed with Zircon hypersonic missiles with a range of a thousand kilometers.

Pretoria has resisted calls from the United States to join in condemnation of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. The defiance from South Africa not to pander to the whims of Western powers especially the United States of America ignited huge political debates across the world on the implication of such defiance on the future relationship between South Africa and the West. South Africa previously abstained from a UN vote condemning the invasion as well as refusing to join the US and Europe in imposing sanctions on Russia.

As a response to western pressure, South Africa points out it has held four joint exercises with the US since 2011 as well as drills with France and Germany. Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor had this to say during a recent visit to South Africa by the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov: “All countries conduct military exercises with friends worldwide.” She said trying to stop South Africa from conducting joint military exercises with the countries of her choice amounted to “an abuse of international practice”. In addition the Minister of Defense and Veteran Affairs Thandie Modise stated flatly that South Africa is not a surrogate of any nation and has the absolute right to conduct her affairs with any country of her choice.

This show of defiance is a sign that South Africa wants to protect her interests as far as defense cooperation is concerned. Elizabeth Sidiropoulos, a Security Analyst at the South African Institute of International Affairs reasons that it is vital for South Africa to take part in the exercise because its armed forces are underfunded and overstretched especially at a time when the navy’s priorities are to protect fisheries in its home waters and combat piracy in the Indian Ocean. So it needs teaming up with other nations to have the capacity to deal with security threats off its coast such as piracy.

Another thing worth noting is that the ruling African National Congress has long standing ties with Russia, which dates back to the dark era of Apartheid rule before 1994. Most of the ANC older cadres especially within its leadership still have that emotional attachment to Russia because they enjoyed military and financial support from Russia during the liberation struggle.

For them it is very difficult to turn their backs on a country that played a pivotal role during the difficult period of the brutal Apartheid system. In fact many South African liberation cadres received their military training in Russia during that time and South African officials also see an opportunity to help their nation’s beleaguered economy by increasing trade with Russia, just as Moscow is seeking friendly nations to do business with especially in Africa to bypass American and European sanctions. Russia, China and South Africa also have modern-day ties because they are all members of the BRICS alliance. So these naval operations are also intended to promote defense and security cooperation among BRICS members.

During these exercises, it is indeed Russia which has more to gain because the defiance by South Africa is a clear demonstration that Russia is not as isolated as it is purported to be especially in Africa and it shows that Russia can still project its power far away from home, and that it still has allies around the world. In other words, it lets them say that it is not the world against Russia but only the West is against Russia and this does not totally sit well with the majority of Western powers especially the USA. This view is further buttressed by Denys Reva from the Institute for Security Studies in South Africa who states that: “Moscow will be trying to show the whole world that despite challenges it faces on its ongoing war with Ukraine, its armed forces are still very powerful. This comes at a time when Russia is portrayed by many, especially in the western world, as a “pariah” nation and the Kremlin has turned for support to South Africa, the most developed economy and an influential voice on the African continent.As the naval drills continue until the end of February, the US and other Western nations are accusing South Africa of picking sides in a broader geopolitical conflict and time will tell on the next course of action that the West might take against South Africa.

However, the defiance by South Africa to continue military drills with countries of her choice might also motivate other African nations to exercise diplomatic independence on major geopolitical issues that impact on their socio-economic and political interests. Only time will tell on what happens next but the reality is that the current political events also provide an opportunity for Moscow to show it is not isolated on the world stage, despite wide international condemnation of the Ukraine invasion.