President Cyril Ramaphosa.
The United States failed to produce evidence to justify its claims that South Africa loaded arms destined for Russia in the infamous Lady R scandal.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has confirmed that the independent panel’s investigation into whether arms were sold to Russia found no evidence to substantiate the allegations.
“When all matters are considered, none of the allegations made about the supply of weapons to Russia have been proven to be true, and none of the persons who made these allegations could provide any evidence to support the claims that had been levelled against our country,” Ramaphosa said.
Ramaphosa made the announcement on Sunday night during a televised national address on the outcomes of the Brics conference.
The panel was chaired by Judge Phineas Mojapelo and found that there “was no evidence to support the claim that the ship transported weapons from South Africa destined for Russia,” Ramaphosa said.
He said in its report, the panel outlined the circumstances that led to the docking of the ship in Simon’s Town and the nature of the cargo supplied.
Ramaphosa said the panel visited the naval base in Simon’s Town and obtained evidence under oath from about 50 people in every relevant component of government.
“Over 100 documents were submitted to the panel for examination. A number of entities and persons who had publicly claimed to have information on this matter were invited to make submissions to the panel. Many of those invited either failed to do so or said they had no independent knowledge of the relevant facts,” he said.
The report comes as a response to the US ambassador Reuben Brigety’s allegation, which made international headlines in May. Staking his life over his claims, Brigety sent the Rand plunging against the Dollar when he held a media briefing making explosive claims against the South African government.
The South African government has long held a position that it did not send arms to Russia.
Ramaphosa said the allegations levelled against the country had a damaging effect on its currency, economy and standing in the world.
“The panel did not find any evidence of criminal conduct by any persons involved. However, the panel made findings and recommendations with respect to the functioning of the National Conventional Arms Control Committee,” he said.
He said the panel established that the ship docked at Simons Town to deliver equipment that had been ordered for the South African National Defence Force in 2018 by Armscor, the country’s arms procurement company.
“In terms of the contract for the supply of the arms, neither Armscor nor the South African National Defence Force had any control over the means through which the supplier of the ordered equipment would transport them to South Africa. In its report, the panel outlined the circumstances that led to the docking of the vessel in Simonstown, as well as the type of goods supplied and the reasons why the goods were unloaded at the time they were offloaded.”
In the days following Brigety’s allegations, South Africa’s trading relations with the US were put in jeopardy, and the Rand stopped just short of breaching the R20 level.
This was at the time when the US was pushing South Africa to take a side in Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Ramaphosa added that all the relevant permits were obtained for the equipment.
“South Africa has clear laws that regulate the issuing of permits regarding the importation and exportation of conventional arms. All relevant permits had been obtained for the importation of the equipment that were delivered by the ship. No permit was issued for the export of arms and no arms were exported,” he said.
The president added that the report would not be made public given that the evidence which was handed over to the panel was classified.
He said that revealing details of the equipment that was offloaded could jeopardise the work and safety of South Africa’s forces in various deployments on the continent.
“In deciding not to release the report, I have taken account of the laws that both mandate openness and transparency and require that certain information that may be prejudicial to the defence and security of the Republic be kept classified and confidential. To reveal the details of the equipment offloaded would compromise important military operations and put our soldiers’ lives at risk.
“Under these circumstances, when lives would be at risk due to the revelation of the type of equipment that is utilised by our armed forces, the need for confidentiality is both necessary and justified,” Ramaphosa said.
Ramaphosa said he had noted the panel’s findings and recommendations with respect to the efficiency and efficacy of the relevant administrative and maritime transport processes, adding that he had directed that an implementation plan be developed to address these.
An executive summary of the report would be published on Monday morning.