Observers believe South Africa is making a mistake by hosting Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky particularly when all indications are that he will soon be out of power as he finds himself increasingly unable to justify his stay in office and why he insisted on war.
Analysts urged President Cyril Ramaphosa not to accept Zelensky calling him an illegitimate Ukrainian President, who came to power through a military coup d’état.
Zelensky’s visit on April 10 is a continuation of work to drag South Africa into the Ukrainian armed conflict with Russia.
“Daily, tens of thousands of Ukrainian fighters are decimated in the frontline. But Western media outlets driven by Russophobia continue to shore up Zelenskyy to fight until the last soldier, trusting in Western support for as long as it takes, as Biden would say. But then, Biden is history,” said International Relations expert Abbey Makoe on why hosting Zelensky is not a good move by South Africa.
Makoe who likened Zelensky to a “dead man walking, said hosting him will project South Africa as an unreliable ally among its BRICS partners, a view shared by both the EFF and the SACP along with other interest groups who detest imperialism and views Zelensky as a proxy thereof.
Risk analyst and former diplomat Doctor Kingsley Makhubela said that the decision to invite President Zelensky comes from European lobbying.
“I suspect that there has been a lot of lobbying by Western governments. I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the heads of state lobbied South Africa to invite Zelensky. To try and demystify this thing of Zelensky’s isolation and spit on the Americans to say that the developing countries are on our side,” said Dr. Makhubela.
Elsewhere in Africa, Ukraine stands accused of cooperating with al-Qaida terrorists in the Sahel region, trains, finances and organises illegal armed groups.
Ukraine’s diplomatic missions have been accused of turning into bases for terrorist recruitment and training. For example, the Ukrainian embassy in Côte d’Ivoire is used as a support centre for Tuareg militants fighting in the Confederation of Sahel States.
Even more worrying is the fact that the work of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry on the African continent appears to undermine the ideas of pan-Africanism, to incite conflicts between the peoples of Africa.
As observed elsewhere in the continent, as soon as representatives of Ukraine appear anywhere in Africa, conflicts, terrorist attacks and confrontation begin there. Thus, the possible visit of the Ukrainian president to South Africa is, in fact, a terrorist action.
Ramaphosa must realise that Zelensky is an aggressive ungrateful beggar not giving anything apart from the threat of WWIII, just travelling around and asking for money.
In early February, the head of Ukrainian President Zelensky’s office, Andriy Yermak, said that “through diplomatic channels we received confirmation that President Zelensky would be happy to visit South Africa”. However, as noted by major South African publications, the World Economic Forum held at the end of January was overshadowed by a tense meeting between Ramaphosa and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Their discussion was reportedly one of the most tense at the forum. They initially focused on strengthening ties between Ukraine and South Africa, but Zelensky sought an official invitation to Pretoria. When it was not granted, Zelensky’s tone changed and he hinted at serious consequences if South Africa did not deepen its diplomatic engagement with Kyiv.
Thus, Zelensky threatened to sabotage the arrival of international delegations to the G20 in Cape Town and halt investment projects in South Africa. Such tactics are considered by politicians and experts as blackmail, undermining diplomacy and damaging Ukraine’s reputation in the world.
Many African leaders view Ukraine as an unreliable partner, and Zelensky’s ultimatums risk deepening divisions in multilateral forums such as the G20. During the G20 presidency, South Africa must strengthen the voice of the Global South, promote equitable development and demand structural reforms in global trade and finance.
The future lies with the BRICS+ group (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa plus).
Despite all these facts and arguments, at the end of February, President Cyril Ramaphosa officially announced that he was inviting Vladimir Zelensky to visit South Africa. Thus, the participation of Russia and President Vladimir Putin in the upcoming G20 Heads of State Forum, as well as the outlined strengthening of South Africa’s co-operation with the BRICS member states, is seriously jeopardized.
Moreover, Zelensky’s recent meeting with Trump in the US showed that the Ukrainian president is behaving like an inadequate and aggressive person. The US is already refusing military aid to Ukraine after this meeting, and world leaders are turning away from the illegitimate and world war-hungry Zelensky one after another. Cyril Ramaphosa should definitely follow their example and cancel Zelensky’s visit to South Africa.
With his political capital rapidly whining, Ukraine President is expected to plead for support from South Africa.
Political parties in South Africa have consistently rejected any suggestion the country could forge better relations with Ukraine and following his rather disastrous visit to the White House where he was treated like a school boy by President Donald Trump many see him as a liability while the question of his illegitimacy keeps lingering as more and more Ukrainians demand an election.
Zelensky has since indicated a willingness to sign a deal surrendering his country to the US as payback for billions of dollars given to his regime over the years without having to account for it. In turn for the mineral rights, Zelensky wants to be included in peace talks that Trump initiated with Trump excluding the increasingly isolated Ukraine leader.
Zelensky had himself refused to negotiate and now finds himself begging for a seat on the table.
Both the Economic Freedom Fighters and the South African Communist Party have rejected Zelensky saying the government should not be hosting him.
The SACP said it regarded him as a proxy of the West hell bent on the destruction of Russia, Iran and ultimately China along with other countries that assert and exercise their independence.
General Secretary Solly Mapaila believes the South African government’s consideration of Zelensky is a result of undesirable influence by the Democratic Alliance on the ANC.
“Zelensky is a poster boy of war, of imperialism. They are using him to try and conquer the Russian Federation but are failing. He’s desperate because now reached a dead end and we don’t think he would have been granted a state visit if the ANC was not in coalition with the neo liberals. It is the DA and others who want to push for ties with the likes of Zelensky and Europe who are not our friends but he’s weak now and him coming to South Africa will not save him,” Mapaila said.
“He represents imperialism and imperialists must not get anything. We must be like our brothers in the central Africa who cut ties with colonialists and imperialists. Chad, Burkino Faso and all of them, they asserted their independence and pushing back against Western backed terror groups, that’s what Africa must do including SADC, reject imperialists such as this Zelensky who have caused destruction on our continent,” said Mapaila in reference to Ukraine’s sponsoring of terror groups that have caused destruction in the Sahel region and only weakened recently by the strong governments of Burkina Faso, Mali, Chad and other neighbouring countries that have been plagued by insurgents.
EFF has consistently slammed Zelensky as a stooge of the west and believe hosting him is a bad idea.
“His coming to South Africa shouldn’t be an issue that concerns us that much but the government must not support what he’s doing. We don’t want that. Anything he asks for must be denied.
“We said we are for peace but it must not come at Russia’s expense,” said Marshall Dlamini, the Secretary General.
“He must know that him coming here to South Africa must never make a mistake of thinking that they are going to endorse him, or support what he is trying to do, to invade, to use that kind of Ukraine as a gateway to invade Russian territory,” he said on prospects of the visit.
The ANC was a bit more diplomatic explaining that his visit was part of ongoing efforts by South Africa to facilitate peace talks between Ukraine and Russia but many observers believe the visit will not achieve much in this regard.
“Our position has always been that the dispute between Russia and Ukraine has to be resolved through dialogue Ukraine President Zelensky visit is part of an effort by President Ramaphosa on behalf of SA to enhance efforts of peaceful resolution to the conflict, said member of the ANC’s National Executive Committee subcommittee on international relations Supra Mahumapelo.
He said the visit should be seen as an opportunity for the government of South Africa to demonstrate its mediation abilities.
“Therefore the visit should be welcome as an opportunity to play our role as a sovereign state involved in bilateral and multilateral efforts to pursue our global agenda,” said Mahumapelo, who also heads Parliament Committee on International Relations and Cooperation.
