South Africa publishes a report on the case of the transport of weapons on a Russian ship

An independent commission formed in South Africa found no confirmation of information that any military products were loaded on the Russian vessel Lady R, which called at the country’s naval base in Simonstown in December 2022. Report published website of the President of South Africa.

“Despite some rumors that some equipment or weapons were loaded on the Lady R, the commission found no evidence to support these claims,” the document says.

The report says that the Russian ship delivered equipment to the base in Simonstown, which was ordered by Armscor for the needs of the South African army. These products have been expected since 2018, but their production and delivery were delayed due to the COVID-19 outbreaks and the conflict in Ukraine.

As noted, Lady R came under US sanctions, but the South African side found out about this only in mid-October, when the ship was already on its way. Since these sanctions were not approved by the UN, they are not binding on South Africa, the report emphasizes. However, representatives of the port where the ship was heading refused to serve it due to sanctions, which is why it was decided to unload it at a military base.

“The available evidence only confirmed the fact of unloading and that nothing was loaded,” the authors of the report emphasize.

As part of the investigation, the commission interrogated almost 50 people and studied over a hundred documents.

How informed TASS, the investigation was initiated after the statement by the US Ambassador to South Africa Ruben Brigeti that the country allegedly supplies weapons to Russia. On Lady R, he claimed, weapons and ammunition were loaded, with which the ship returned to Russia. The South African Foreign Ministry then summoned the American ambassador and expressed his displeasure to him, while the diplomat himself admitted that he had crossed the line and apologized.