Video: USA and SA exchanging ugly accusations
SA Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni (Supplied)
SA minister accuses US of violating diplomatic protocol over Russian ship allegations
South Africa’s minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni has accused the US ambassador to South Africa Reuben Brigety of violating diplomatic protocol by publicly raising allegations that a Russian ship, Lady R, was loaded with weapons while docked at Simon’s Town naval base.
In an interview with the SABC on Friday, Ntshavheni said that Brigety had not followed diplomatic channels in dealing with issues in South Africa and that this was not the first time he had done so.
She said that Brigety’s “megaphone diplomacy” approach of addressing the media in Pretoria on Thursday was unacceptable and ineffective.
“It doesn’t work. If the US has concerns about anything in South Africa, they are allowed to raise them — but the channel they need to contact is Dirco [the department of international relations and co-operation] to say these are the issues they have problems with, because we have a relationship with the US,” she said.
Ntshavheni also said that if the US had security concerns, it should have gone through the correct channels instead of issuing a terror alert in September that coincided with a gay pride march in Sandton, Johannesburg.
She said that the alert was based on unverified information and that it put the LGBTQI community at risk of being targeted by homophobic attacks.
“If you know that on our continent we are faced with challenges of homophobia … when you issue a terror alert based on not-ascertained information, you are saying the LGBTQI community are up for being targeted and that is irresponsible,” she said.
Ntshavheni’s comments came as international relations minister Naledi Pandor was scheduled to meet her US counterpart, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, on Friday afternoon to discuss the diplomatic storm over Lady R.
The US State Department had echoed Brigety’s comments on Thursday and said that the presence of the Russian ship in South Africa was “very concerning”.
The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) had denied that Lady R was carrying weapons and said that it was undergoing routine maintenance at the naval base. It also said that it had complied with all international laws and regulations regarding the ship’s visit.
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