ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba has decried the government’s plan to partake in a joint military exercise between Russia and China where a hypersonic Zircon missile is set to be tested.
According to media reports, the navies of SA, Russia, and China are set to conduct Exercise Mosi II, which features the live firing of a Russian hypersonic Tsikon (Zircon) missile off the KwaZulu-Natal coast for 10 days from February 17.
Mashaba believes this exercise will amount to a “propaganda exercise by the Russian government to portray the country’s military might ahead of a potential escalation in the ongoing Ukraine-Russia war”. He said SA cannot afford to participate.
“SA simply cannot afford to become involved in a new cold war between the West and the East at a time when the country’s own house of cards is falling apart, with the country facing a number of domestic crises such as rolling blackouts, increasing cost of living and failing municipalities.
“The military exercise off the South African coast will likely be seen as SA aligning ourselves with the Russian government during the Ukraine-Russia war, which may further antagonise our strategic partners, and jeopardise trade relations – which is crucial to safeguard the country’s economy,” he said.
Mashaba cautioned that taking a position in support of Russia will not help but only harm the country’s relations with its other international counterparts.
He said: “Taking on an explicit position of support for Russia may further harm SA’s reputation with our international partners. At a time when our economy is already struggling, the reality is that we cannot afford to alienate major trade partners by becoming a participant in Russia’s military propaganda, which offers no clear benefit to SA.”
During the military exercise later in February, Russia is set to test its hypersonic Zircon missile, which has never been seen in public and is believed to be nearly unstoppable – being able to destroy an enemy target as far away as Durban is from Cape Town.
Taking a stand in the matter, Mashaba condemned the exercise, saying that ActionSA is opposed to all forms of aggression and respects the sovereignty of the people of Ukraine.
The ActionSA leader is appealing to the SA government to abort this mission because South Africans have already suffered greatly as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. He said it is concerning that the ANC-led government is fueling this war by wanting to partake in the exercise.
“The Ukrainian war has already brought immense suffering to the people of SA, in the form of rising fuel and bread prices, not to mention the thousands of civilian deaths in both Ukraine and Russia. It is concerning that the ANC-led government would contribute in any way to escalate the war.
“The ANC-led government should respect international rule of law and follow Mandela’s dream of SA using the international stage as a champion for human rights. Rather than being party to military exercises with an aggressor country, SA should be committing itself to help bring the war in Ukraine to an end.
“For too long the SA government has to aim to please the Russian government at the cost of the South African people, and ActionSA will maintain pressure to ensure that human rights are respected in SA’s foreign policy,” Mashaba concluded.
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