By Jan Gerber
Africa-Press – South-Africa. President Cyril Ramaphosa didn’t produce answers about the cost of his shambolic peace mission to Ukraine and Russia in June, and whether he stood by his security head’s remarks that the snafu in Poland was due to racism.
In June, Ramaphosa and the heads of state of the Comoros, Congo-Brazzaville, Egypt, Senegal, Uganda and Zambia visited Ukraine and Russia to broker peace between the two nations after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
The trip saw 120 police protection services personnel, led by Major General Wally Rhoode, the head of the Presidential Protection Service, stranded for 26 hours in the plane at Warsaw’s Chopin Airport, along with a contingent of South African journalists. Polish authorities refused to allow the South Africans to disembark due to issues with the PPS documentation and permits.
Rhoode accused the Polish officials of racism at the time. With members of his security team stranded in Poland, Ramaphosa and other African leaders met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kiev on 17 June, and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on the following day.
While Zelensky and Putin’s responses to the peace talks were lukewarm at best, Ramaphosa hailed the mission as a success.
In the days after the trip, it emerged that businessmen Jean-Yves Ollivier and Ivor Ichikowitz were involved in the arrangements of the mission.
Ollivier is the founding chairperson of the Brazzaville Foundation, and Ichikowitz is the founder and former executive chairperson of the Paramount Group, a large South African weapons manufacturer. His family foundation also recently donated R1.5 million to the ANC.
At the time, DA leader John Steenhuisen called the trip a disgrace and said he would ask Ramaphosa questions.
“Cyril Ramaphosa must be held accountable for the millions of rands in taxpayer funds wasted on his failed PR stunt,” Steenhuisen, who visited Ukraine in 2022, said.
In a written parliamentary question, Steenhuisen asked Ramaphosa the following questions:
“What was the full cost to South African taxpayers of the entire South African contingent, including the 120-person security detail, the media component, the delegation itself and the chartered SA Airways plane that transported the security detail and media component and is the detailed breakdown of all costs?
“What are the full details of the list of names for the entire South African contingent and justification for each individual’s inclusion?
“Whether he stands by the statement made by his head of protection services that their denial of entry into Poland was due to racism and sabotage on the part of the Polish authorities; if not, what is The Presidency’s official explanation for the South African contingency being denied entry to Poland?
“Whether Ivor Ichikowitz and Jean-Yves Ollivier had any role in the African Peace Mission; if not, what are the reasons that they were present at the 5 June meeting of African leaders ahead of the Peace Mission; if so, what are the relevant details?”
Ramaphosa’s responses are vague.
He prefaced his answers by stating: “The Russia-Ukraine conflict has caused great devastation in lost human life, destruction of infrastructure and displacement of people. It has also disrupted the supply of grain to world markets and thus precipitated food insecurity particularly in Africa.
“Recognising the dangers arising from the instability caused by the conflict, together with other African Heads of State, we committed ourselves to working with both parties involved in the conflict and other key role players to finding a path to peace.”
Ramaphosa said he had travelled to Ukraine and Russia with a delegation of 17 people, including International Relations and Cooperation Minister Naledi Pandor, Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco) staff, security and medical support personnel.
‘A matter of public record’
“The members of the delegation provided logistics and substantive support to me. From my office, I was accompanied by my Personal Assistant, Special Adviser, Spokesperson, Digital Media Manager and a Presidential Aide. An advance group of two Media Liaison Officers and two Protocol Officers departed a few days earlier for preparatory duty in the respective countries. Dirco can provide further details of personnel that travelled to support the peace mission,” he stated.
His delegation travelled on a South African Air Force aircraft to Poland.
“We had to travel from Poland to Kyiv due to the closure of Ukraine’s airspace. I paid a courtesy visit to the president of Poland in transit to Ukraine. We had an opportunity to discuss the relations between Poland and South Africa and explored ways in which we could deepen the relations between the two countries.
“We then travelled from Poland to Kyiv and back by train. The costs of travel to Ukraine from Poland by train were provided on a complementary basis by the Ukrainian government. We proceeded from Poland to Russia by air and spent one evening in St Petersburg following an afternoon and evening of talks with President Putin.”
Ramaphosa said the full costs of his delegation to the Presidency would be reconciled and reported in the Presidency’s Annual Report.
Ramaphosa added that several media houses had been invited to travel to Ukraine and Russia, as “part of the effort to ensure that the South African public was kept informed of the developments around the peace mission”.
“I am advised that due to the financial constraints experienced by several media houses, an arrangement was made for them to travel on the aircraft chartered for security personnel. While their travel was partly facilitated by my office, their travel costs were not borne by the Presidency. I am informed that the travelling members of the media were to cover their own accommodation and other incidental costs.”
He added that details about the security personnel and the charter’s costs could be obtained from the South African Police Service and South African National Defence Force.
On the incident in Poland, Ramaphosa said: “The government of Poland provided through the appropriate diplomatic channels the reasons for the decision to deny entry to an aircraft that transported security personnel and members of the media. The Polish government went further to release those reasons to the media and they are a matter of public record.”
He didn’t refer to Rhoode’s comments in his response.
‘Personal friends’
On Ollivier and Ichikowitz’s involvement, Ramaphosa merely stated: “The peace mission was facilitated by the Brazzaville Foundation led by Mr Jean-Yves Ollivier. The Brazzaville Foundation team attended the preparatory meeting that took place on 5 June 2023.”
He didn’t present any further “relevant details”, continuing the Presidency’s reluctance to provide information on Ollivier and Ichikowitz’s involvement.
The Presidency’s statement the day after the 5 June meeting did not mention Ollivier, Ichikowitz or the Brazzaville Foundation’s participation. Ramaphosa announced the peace mission on 16 May, as South Africa’s stance on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was under intense scrutiny in the aftermath of US ambassador Reuben Brigety’s claims that South Africa had loaded weapons onto the Russian vessel Lady R, which was docked at the Simon’s Town Naval Base in December.
None of the Presidency’s statements on the mission mentioned the involvement of the Brazzaville Foundation.
On 19 May, Newsweek quoted Ollivier as saying that most of the African leaders were his “personal friends”, and that he started negotiating with Kyiv and Moscow about a peace mission with African leaders.
Ramaphosa’s spokesperson , Vincent Magwenya, was asked at the time about the involvement of Ollivier and Ichikowitz in the peace mission. He said he would not answer any questions in that regard.
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