Lady R report released as a ‘summary’
On Tuesday, President Cyril Ramaphosa released the executive summary of a report into the docking of Lady R.
President Cyril Ramaphosa made public the executive summary of a panel’s findings into allegations (Lady R report) that South Africa had provided Russia with weapons.
Reuben Brigety, the US ambassador to South Africa, claimed that South Africa had given weapons to Russia through the Lady R ship that had sailed into Simonstown in December 2022, prompting the appointment of the panel.
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President Ramaphosa established an inquiry headed by retired senior judge Phineas Mojapelo to investigate the ambassador’s bombshell charges after the government reacted with broad outrage and surprise to them.
The president said that the arms-purchasing firm Armscor had no control over the method of delivery of the weapons to South Africa.
ALSO READ: Lady R report sent to Ramaphosa
WHAT IS THE SUMMARY OF THE LADY R REPORT SAYING?
“The panel found that the ship docked in Simonstown to deliver supplies that Armscor, the nation’s armaments procurement firm, had ordered for the South African National Defence Force in 2018.
“According to the terms of the contract for the sale of the armaments, neither Armscor nor the South African National Defense Force had any influence over how the supplier of the required equipment would deliver it to South Africa.
“According to the summary, the ship was transporting weapons purchased from “a company based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE)”, and neither Armscor nor the South African National Defence Force were aware that a Russian ship would be used to transport the goods.
ALSO READ: Ramaphosa appoints three-person panel to investigate Lady R controversy
WHY IS THE ENTIRE REPORT NOT RELEASED?
The Covid-19 and the Russia-Ukraine crisis delayed the 2018 arms order.
The findings also address the problem of the ship docking in South Africa despite sanctions against Russia for its invasion of a neighboring nation.
Only “mid-October 2022, when the ship was already on its way” did Armscor learn that the ship was headed to South Africa and was subject to sanctions.
Additionally, the report states that “those sanctions were not binding on South Africa because they had not been approved by the United Nations.”
The whole report won’t be released since it contains sensitive material.