South Africa’s army chief is in Moscow for talks after the rainbow nation got caught up in a fierce diplomatic row with Washington. Last week, the US ambassador to South Africa said he would “bet his life” that arms and ammunition were loaded onto a Russian vessel docked in Cape Town in December. The US ambassador said there are now “profound concerns” in DC about South Africa’s professed “non-alignment” in the Russia-Ukraine war. Pretoria swiftly rejected the claim. But South Africa’s “neutrality” was always a sham. The ANC party shares deep historical ties to Moscow, which supported its struggle against apartheid for decades. The two countries are members of the informal Brics group and held joint naval exercises on the anniversary of Russia’s invasion.
