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Two weeks since a U.S.-sanctioned Russian cargo ship mysteriously docked and left a naval harbor in South Africa, questions are now being raised about the suspicious nature of the cargo operation, with the government seemingly unwilling to offer any explanation.
The Lady R, a Ro-Ro container vessel sailing under the Russian flag, was reportedly heading toward Dar-es-Salaam in Tanzania when its Automatic Identification System (AIS) was switched off. Despite the ship not putting out a distress signal, the vessel was towed by South African National Defense Force (SANDF) boats into the naval harbor in Simon’s Town on the night of Dec. 6.
While the local neighborhood was in darkness due to a rolling blackout, floodlights at the harbor revealed that the cargo was unloaded from the ship and transported under armed guard in SANDF trucks, CTV News said in a report, citing local media.
The vessel’s departure from Simon’s Town on the morning of Dec. 9 after three nights of frenzied activity was equally mysterious, according to a report by Daily Maverick. The report added that the yet-undisclosed cargo was loaded and unloaded from the ship in the presence of armed guards. It has raised suspicions about the clandestine operation, with allegations that South Africa may be involved in the supply of weapons to Russia.
On being tipped off about the docking of Lady R, opposition member and shadow minister for defense Kobus Marais of South Africa’s Democratic Alliance party reached out to South Africa’s Minister of Defense, Thandi Modise of the ruling African National Congress Party, and other high ranking officials for an explanation.
However, the government only indicated that they “will issue a statement,” Marais reportedly said, adding that a response hasn’t come yet.
“Tuesday night, the on-board cranes were starting to work and certainly were busy offloading stuff, there were trucks with containers,” Marais told the outlet. “During the day trucks were parked outside the base and guarded by uniformed members.”
“Clearly we are aware that munitions were offloaded, clearly we are aware that they were transported and delivered to a specific ammunition depot in South Africa,” he said further.
Although it is unclear why South Africa allowed a U.S.-sanctioned ship to dock at a naval harbor and whether it was actually in some trouble, David Feldmann, U.S. Embassy spokesperson in Pretoria, told Daily Maverick that the Embassy has “no reason to believe that Lady R was, in fact, in distress.”
Feldmann pointed out that since May, the vessel Lady R and its parent company, Transmorflot LLC, had been under U.S. sanction because it was “part of Russia’s military export-import business.”
The U.S. Embassy had in fact alerted the South African government that Lady R was planning to stop in the country and “cautioned that entities supporting the vessel could run afoul of U.S. sanctions,” Feldmann added, as per the Daily Maverick.
Significantly, Russia has strengthened its ties across the African continent over the years through investments in mining, oil and gas production, finance, agriculture and nuclear technology. Moreover, Moscow is reportedly one of the largest exporters of arms to African countries from 2017 to 2021.
Despite Washington’s charm offensive in Africa to counter the rising influence of Moscow and Beijing, nations on the continent have looked at Western efforts with a degree of cynicism. South Africa, which carries substantial heft among nations on the continent, has resisted pressure from the West on Russia with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa saying in September that Africans should “not be told by anyone who we can associate with.”
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