Russia Ukraine: SA Government Must Take a Stand, Says DA

“The DA is appalled that South Africa abstained from the UN General Assembly vote condemning Russia last night,” says Darren Bergman MP – DA Shadow Minister of International Relations and Cooperation. “This was an opportune time for our government to take a clear and moral stand that would gain them ground. It was also the right thing to do.”

Bergman said in a statement on Thursday: “It is unbelievable that South Africa can have double standards when it comes to human rights and this takes away the last of their claim to moral legitimacy.”

He asserts that abstaining or voting for Russia is “a sign that one is complicit or condones a military invasion into Ukraine. We call on South Africa to hold Russia accountable to international law in line with the Geneva Convention and ensure that no weapons on the list of the Lieber Code are used.

“We further call on South Africa again to use its membership in BRICS to try and engage with Russia to bring about their withdrawal from Ukraine.”

Fellow BRICS members India and China also abstained, with Brazil being the only one who called for an immediate end to the Russian attack, while also pointing out that indiscriminate sanctions are not constructive.

Last night, as South Africa abstained, the City of Cape Town City Hall lit up in solidarity with the people of Ukraine.

Many South Africans around the country said they were “embarrassed and ashamed” by SA abstaining, with several social media users pointing out that SA is in Russia’s debt (or pocket) not only financially, but also politically for the support to help free the country from apartheid.

Blind loyalty

Bergman said: “Blind loyalty draped in historic engagements cannot be a reason for future bound decisions that are life dependent. The South African government still has a chance to make a stand and they must. They must do the right thing.”

SA drank champagne with Russia after the invasion began

Last Thursday, when Russia invaded Ukraine, the ANC was drinking champagne with the Russian Ambassador and Russian Defence Attaché at the Russian Embassy in South Africa.

DA Leader John Steenhuisen said: “On the day of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – thirteen hours after the invasion had begun, to be precise – the ANC Minister of Defence and Military Veterans, her department’s special advisor, and the Chief of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), among others, attended a cocktail function at the Russian ambassador’s residence in Pretoria in honour of the Russian Defence Force.”

The event was boycotted by all NATO member countries, “but this did not stop Minister Thandi Modise, her Director General’s special advisor Tsepe Motumi, and the Chief of the SANDF General Rudzani Maphwanya, in full uniform, from clinking glasses and sipping champagne as they celebrated the power of an army that had just invaded its neighbour that very morning.”

Steenhuisen said that at a time when the staunchest Putin allies such as the Hungarian Prime Minister and the Czech President have turned against him, “our own ANC government could not scramble fast enough to the wrong side of history.

“The grotesqueness of this gesture cannot be overstated. Imagine raising a glass to the might of the German army at the German embassy on the day that Hitler invaded Poland.”

According to Steenhuisen DIRCO’s statement calling for Russia’s withdrawal from Ukraine “apparently incensed the ANC and President Ramaphosa. They have since rebuked DIRCO and made attempts to patch their relationship with Russia.”

Steenhuisen said: “Russia is now a global pariah state thanks to the ruthless warmongering of its despotic leader. It has run out of friends and allies, and rightly so. Except down here in South Africa, where you will still find the last lonely outpost of support for a brutal regime that has no regard for international law or the sanctity of life. The ANC could not embarrass us more on the world stage if it tried.”

He called on President Ramaphosa to immediately address the nation – and the world – stating his and his government’s position on the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.