South Africa eases tensions with US after arms row

South Africa's finance minister says the country has settled with the US over allegations of "arms transfers to Russia", confident Washington will not punish Pretoria.

"A series of steps have been taken to maintain our close relationship with the United States," South African Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana said on May 14. "The United States is unlikely to take any angry retaliatory measures."

Godongwana's comments came after US Ambassador to Pretoria Reuben Brigety said on May 11 that weapons and ammunition had been loaded onto a cargo ship, apparently Russian, that docked at South Africa's Simon's Town naval base in December 2022. The South African government has denied the allegations.

According to Godongwana, the US first raised its concerns two months ago and President Cyril Ramaphosa has asked his security adviser and an independent judge to investigate the information. South Africa has also sent a delegation to the US to ease tensions.

All South African arms deals need to be approved by a cabinet committee, and there has been no formal decision on Russia, Godongwana added. "If it is as the US claims, it could be the work of saboteurs. Those with relevant information should come forward to the judge so that we can take the necessary action."

South African Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana speaks in Cape Town on February 22. Photo: Reuters

South Africa summoned Ambassador Brigety on May 12 to clarify his previous accusations that Pretoria secretly supplied weapons to Moscow. Ambassador Brigety confirmed that he had met with South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor "to correct any misunderstandings" regarding his statement.

Both sides later pledged to maintain their partnership and coordinate actions, but did not address the authenticity of the accusation that "South Africa is transferring weapons to Russia." Washington has warned that countries providing assistance to Moscow could be denied access to the US market.

“This is not an empty warning. The Biden administration has shown through its actions that it is willing to do so, by sanctioning a number of companies in China and Türkiye,” said Edward Fishman, a foreign policy expert who worked on sanctions against Russia under former US President Barack Obama.

Cameron Hudson, a researcher at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the US is unlikely to sanction South Africa or remove the country from the Sub-Saharan Africa Trade Preferences (AGOA) program.

Relations between the US and South Africa have been somewhat strained after the latter refused to condemn Russia’s war in Ukraine. Pretoria said it wanted to remain neutral and supported dialogue as a way to end the conflict.

Nhu Tam (According to Bloomberg, Reuters )

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