The Mojapelo panel has completed its investigation into the Lady R controversy and is drafting a report to President Cyril Ramaphosa. (Facebook/ Lorraine Goddard Bradbury)
The Mojapelo panel has completed its investigation into the Lady R controversy and is drafting a report to President Cyril Ramaphosa.
“The panel is now compiling its report,” Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, confirmed on Tuesday.
The three-person panel headed by retired high court judge Phineas Mojapelo has a fortnight to submit findings to the president, barring an application for an extension.
It was appointed on 28 May, less than three weeks after the United States’ ambassador to Pretoria, Reuben Brigety, unleashed a diplomatic storm by telling a media briefing that Washington had proof that weapons were loaded onto the Russian cargo vessel when it docked at the Simon’s Town naval base for four days in December.
Defence Minister Thandi Modise denied that arms were loaded onto the ship and so did the Russian government. Moscow further said it was an attempt by the Biden administration to force South Africa to abandon its non-aligned stance on the war in Ukraine.
Ramaphosa announced his decision to appoint a judge to investigate the matter a day after Brigety went public with the allegations that had been raised privately by US officials when presidential security adviser Sydney Mufamadi visited Washington in April.
The presidential response was designed to limit the damage to relations with the US, and to accommodate Washington’s insistence that it would only hand over the proof it claimed to have had in the context of a credible inquiry.
But US and South African officials told the Mail & Guardian this week that it was not clear whether or how much information US authorities have made available for the panel’s perusal.
Nor is it clear if any part of the panel’s report will be made public.
Magwenya reiterated that once the report is handed to Ramaphosa, he will decide if the full contents or sections will be published or classified.
This meant, for example, that if evidence was provided by an intelligence service or member, the source, the manner in which the intelligence was gathered or the thrust of it could be classified.
The panel’s remit included establishing who was aware of the cargo ship’s arrival, the nature of the contents loaded and off-loaded while it was docked at the naval base and the destination of the cargo, and whether all legalities were complied with in relation to the vessel’s arrival and stay in South African territory.
Last month, the Lady R controversy was raised by US senators in a letter addressed to the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, trade representative Katherine Tai and national security adviser Jacob Sullivan urging the Biden administration to punish South Africa for its position on the war.
The senators called for the annual trade forum for beneficiaries of the African Growth and Opportunity Act, which is scheduled to be held here later this year, to be moved to another country.