Johannesburg - President Cyril Ramaphosa has received a tongue-lashing from political parties which have described his trip to Ukraine and Russia to negotiate a peaceful settlement between the two warring countries as a “waste of taxpayers’ money”.
On Thursday, Ramaphosa, along with African heads of state from Zambia, the Comoros and Senegal, and heads of government from Congo Brazzaville, Egypt and Uganda, travelled to Kyiv, Ukraine, and St Petersburg, Russia, to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Ramaphosa said the trip, which saw a group of journalists and other officials grounded in Poland, was impactful.
On Friday, he called for the de-escalation of fighting in Ukraine at the Mariinsky Palace in Kyiv, while a contingent of South African journalists meant to cover the event was refused permission to exit the plane on their transit via Warsaw.
Some of the journalists complained of being mistreated by the Polish law enforcement agencies, with one woman presidential protection unit member revealing that she was strip searched before being allowed onto the plane.
At the weekend, Ramaphosa’s head of security, Major-General Wally Rhoode, accused Polish police officials of being racist and sabotaging the trip.
However, DA leader John Steenhuisen said Ramaphosa must be held accountable for the millions of rand in taxpayer funds wasted on his failed PR stunt.
“We will be submitting questions to the Minister of Police, Bheki Cele, to determine what ammunition and other materials were sourced and loaded onto the aircraft, as well as the cost of all materials.
“I will be writing to the South African auditor-general requesting that the cost of this peacekeeping trip be declared a fruitless and wasteful expenditure, given that due diligence was not carried out on the part of the South African state,” Steenhuisen said.
Yesterday, the EFF said Ramaphosa's life was put at risk after he was forced to travel without his security team, who were refused permission to travel by Polish authorities.
EFF spokesperson Sinawo Thambo said: “Poland outwardly restricted the media freedom and human rights of passengers and the crew by detaining them on a flight and then refusing them their journey forward to Ukraine, thereafter Russia.
“The South African head of state had to travel all the way to Kyiv in a compromised state in a warzone without his security detail. This is an unacceptable and deliberate form of humiliation.
Ramaphosa said that even though the war had not ended, he was hopeful of a positive outcome.
“I think our mission was impactful. It was a successful trip. Its real success will be measured, obviously, by other ultimate objectives, such as stopping the war,” Ramaphosa said.
“The impact is that we were listened to as we gave an African perspective on a war that has had negative consequences for our continent. Secondly, we are probably the only group that has engaged the two leaders within a short space of time to make a very strong proposal that the war must end,” he said.
On Friday, the Polish foreign ministry said the SAA plane carrying Ramaphosa’s security detail was grounded because it was transporting dangerous or unsafe goods that had not been declared.
The Polish foreign ministry said: “On board there were dangerous materials, the import of which was not authorised by South African representatives.”
It was reported that the plane, which had more than 120 people on board, left South Africa at about 1.30am on Thursday and experienced problems two hours before arriving in Warsaw.
The EFF also called for the South African ambassador to Poland to be recalled over the incident.
“The EFF calls on the government not to respond to this lightly but to defend our sovereignty and dignity by recalling our ambassador to Poland and downgrading the Polish embassy in South Africa.”
It was reported that the Presidential Protection Service dismissed warnings from SA Air Force officials that their paperwork would need to be completed in order to exit Poland. After this, flight clearance to Russia was denied, resulting in journalists and other members of Ramaphosa’s team not achieving their mandates in Ukraine and Russia.
The Star