Des Erasmus
Defence minister Angie Motshekga has appointed retired judge Bernard Ngoepe to lead a board of inquiry, alongside retired judges Monica Leeuw and Kathleen Satchwell, and retired Rear Admiral (junior grade) Patrick Duze, to investigate allegations that President Cyril Ramaphosa’s instructions on Iran’s participation in Exercise Will for Peace 2026 were ignored or misrepresented.
The Department of Defence said on Wednesday night that the board would establish the facts around the conduct of the exercise.
This comes after media reports and political pressure focused on the presence and activities of Iranian naval vessels in South African waters during the drills, which were held at Simon’s Town and nearby waters earlier this month.
Ramaphosa allegedly wanted Iran’s involvement restricted or withdrawn because of diplomatic fallout concerns, particularly with the United States. Iranian ships, however, were still seen operating in the exercise area, igniting accusations of a breakdown in the chain of command.
While the drills were taking place, Iran was violently cracking down on protestors – and still is — who had flooded the streets of various cities, demanding change to the Islamic republic’s political system, which resulted in mass killings.
According to Amnesty International: “The authorities carried out massacres of protesters, primarily on 8 and 9 January, when the death toll rose into thousands. January 2026 marks the deadliest period of repression by the Iranian authorities in decades of Amnesty’s research.”
The United States publicly criticised Iran’s participation in the war games.
“The United States notes with concern and alarm reports that the Minister of Defence and SANDF defied a government order regarding Iran’s participation in the ongoing naval exercises,” The US Embassy in South Africa said on 15 January in an X post.
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“Iran is a destabilising actor and state sponsor of terror, and its inclusion in joint exercises – in any capacity – undermines maritime security and regional stability. It is particularly unconscionable that South Africa welcomed Iranian security forces as they were shooting, jailing, and torturing Iranian citizens engaging in peaceful political activity South Africans fought so hard to gain for themselves. South Africa can’t lecture the world on ‘justice’ while cosying up to Iran,” the embassy said.
A day after that post, Motshekga issued a statement saying that Ramaphosa’s “clear instruction on how Exercise Will for Peace 2026 should be conducted, in particular the participation of the Islamic Republic of Iran…was clearly communicated to all parties concerned, agreed upon, and [was] to be implemented and adhered to as such.” A board had been established to investigate, she said.
She said in the same statement that the board was to table a report and submit it to her within seven days. That never happened, as the board was not convened.
In Wednesday night’s statement, the department said: “[T]o ensure transparency and full independence, consultation with the identified members of the board took longer than expected, thus impacting on the deadline as set. The Board will commence its work as soon as all administrative aspects have been put in place.”
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Will for Peace 2026 brought together naval forces from South Africa, China (which led the drills), Russia and Iran under a BRICS Plus banner, with other countries participating as observers.
The South African defence force at the time defended the war games as routine cooperation focused on maritime security, not politics.
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