South Africa plans talks with Blinken, envoy on Russia arms

South Africa’s government summoned US Ambassador Reuben Brigety after he publicly accused Pretoria of supplying weapons to Russia, while its foreign minister intends to raise the matter with her American counterpart, Report informs via Bloomberg.

A diplomatic demarche will be issued to Brigety, and International Relations and Cooperation Minister Naledi Pandor will discuss the allegations with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday afternoon, Pandor’s spokesman, Clayson Monyela, said on Twitter.

On Thursday, Brigety told journalists that armaments were collected by a Russian cargo ship, the Lady R, from the Simon’s Town naval base in Cape Town in December. South Africa’s presidency said the comments were “disappointing” and no evidence had been produced to back up the claim, but agreed to institute an independent investigation.

The row caused the rand to slump to its weakest level on record against the dollar and yields on government bond to soar on Friday, amid investor concern that any escalation in the diplomatic row may put trade worth billions of dollars at risk.

Relations between South Africa and the US have soured over Pretoria’s insistence that it’s taken a non-aligned stance toward Russia’s war in Ukraine, and any reprimand to the ambassador would up the ante.

“The latest remarks from Brigety indicates that diplomatic efforts to deescalate tensions around South Africa’s ties with Russia have failed,” risk advisers Eurasia Group said in a note to clients. “Yet despite violating US restrictions on arming Russia and dealing with a sanctioned Russia vessel, sanctions against South Africa are unlikely in the short term, though additional violations could change this outlook.”

South African Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni told local broadcaster Newzroom Afrika that Brigety’s actions didn’t amount to a diplomatic altercation.

“The undiplomatic conduct of the US ambassador should not create the impression that there is a fallout,” she said.

Under South African law, all weapons exports must be reported to the National Conventional Arms Control Committee. The sale of arms to, “countries involved in the systematic violation or suppression of humanitarian rights and fundamental freedoms” is prohibited, and should be avoided with countries involved in armed conflict.