An investigation in South Africa has rejected a U.S, allegation that the country supplied weapons to a Russian ship under United States sanctions that was docked at a Cape Town naval base, after the accusation imperiled ties between the U.S. and Africa’s most industrial economy.
President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Sunday, Sept. 3, that an inquiry “found that there was no evidence to support the claim that the ship transported weapons from South Africa destined for Russia,” as had been alleged by the U.S. ambassador to Pretoria earlier this year.
“When all matters are considered, none of the allegations made about the supply of weapons to Russia have been proven to be true,” he said. “None of the persons who made these allegations could provide any evidence to support the claims.”
The Lady R, a vessel owned by Russia’s MG-FLOT, docked at the Simon’s Town base in mysterious circumstances in December, including appearing to switch off its transponder signal. South Africa’s defense ministry said at the time that the ship had carried a delivery for the country’s armed forces.
Ambassador Reuben Brigety claimed in May that the U.S. government was confident that the vessel also “uploaded weapons and ammunition” in Cape Town en route back to Russia, despite no official approval by South Africa’s government for arms exports to Russia or Ukraine since the war began.
The allegation unleashed a diplomatic storm for Ramaphosa’s government, which has said that it is non-aligned over the war in Ukraine, and shook South Africa’s financial markets as trade ties connecting key South African export industries to the US suddenly fell in doubt.
“The allegations leveled against our country had a damaging effect on our currency, economy and our standing in the world,” Ramaphosa said on Sunday.
Brigety and the U.S. government did not detail evidence for the accusation, but Ramaphosa’s government was also unable to deny it outright, leading to the appointment of an inquiry headed by a retired judge to investigate.
The claim came after rising frustration in Washington over South Africa’s ties to Russia, such as joint naval exercises on the anniversary of the war and what was seen as Pretoria’s equivocation in condemning the invasion.
But the Biden administration has since moved to smooth relations with the biggest U.S. trading partner in Africa, one of a number of non-aligned nations that it has sought to lobby over the war in order to challenge Russia’s narrative of the conflict.