Ship in the night – eyewitness account of Lady R

The visible docking and loading of Lady R, a Russian-sanctioned ship, in the Cape Town naval port of Simon’s Town on the night of 6 December last year raises questions about South Africa’s denial of sending weapons to Russia amidst an international uproar.

A Jewish woman, speaking on condition of anonymity, who was staying in the seaside town at the time, clearly witnessed this cargo ship arriving, carrying military cargo.

On 11 May 2023, the United States (US) ambassador to South Africa, Reuben E. Brigety II, accused the country of supplying arms to Russia for use in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine during the December docking of the Lady R. He claimed the African National Congress (ANC) had been unresponsive to repeated American attempts at dialogue, and that the ANC’s policy document on the war in Ukraine was “hostile” to the government of the US.

“We saw the ship in harbour,” said the woman. “It was loadshedding, so it was pitch black, and we noticed bright lights on boats.

“We wondered whether something fishy was going on right away. First, why load or unload a ship at night, during loadshedding? Why not do it during the day? And it was a ship that isn’t normally there.

“We were staying opposite the harbour gates, so we could see lots of comings and goings. We knew people were up to no good, as it was too mysterious. We felt like they were taking advantage of loadshedding.”

She says that officially, the public cannot access the harbour because of navy security, but at the same time, “you see lots of cars driving in. Security is very lax. Sometimes the guards are even asleep. Or they go over to the pub across the road. I don’t have much faith in our navy protecting us if it ever needs to!”

Although the events happened under the cover of darkness, “whoever we spoke to had [also] seen the boat. It was so obvious. You couldn’t miss it. We’re there most weekends, so it really stood out as something out of the ordinary. I don’t know how they thought they could get away with this and that people wouldn’t be suspicious.”

The following day, the ship had already moved on, but friends of the woman saw it in the nearby waters of Muizenberg. “Once we heard about it in the news, we knew exactly what they were referring to. How do you go into that harbour and expect not to be seen?” she asked rhetorically.

South Africa’s policy of non-alignment has been brought into question following the US ambassador’s allegations. South Africa denied the allegation, and stated that the country’s interaction with the Lady R was consistent with its non-aligned position on the war in Ukraine.

President Cyril Ramaphosa stated that an independent inquiry would be launched to investigate Brigety’s accusation. South Africa démarched ambassador Brigety, and claimed that that Brigety had later apologised for the statement.

The diplomatic incident caused speculation over whether the US would continue South Africa’s preferential trade status with the country through the African Growth and Opportunity Act as well as the continued status of PEPFAR (The US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief).

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy responded to the incident by stating that he had spoken to Ramaphosa two days after Brigety’s accusation about “the peace formula [for the Russia/Ukraine war], about justice, and about how our world should be united by the rules of international law”. Zelenskyy also stated that “anyone who helps the aggressor [Russia] with weapons will be an accomplice with all consequences” in possible reference to the event.

Department of international relations and cooperation (Dirco) Minister Dr Naledi Pandor met the American ambassador on 12 May. She told Radio 702 on 16 May that she had expressed the government’s displeasure, and the ambassador should have followed the proper diplomatic channels if he was concerned and wanted to make these allegations.

“This is my first experience of an ambassador calling a press conference and then making very serious allegations in a most wild and inappropriate manner. I must say, I was shocked,” Pandor told the radio station.

She said the South African government didn’t sell arms. Arms are sold by private-sector defense companies and a legal procedure and arms-control process must be followed.

“To go to the public and say South Africa sold arms is actually totally misrepresenting our country and the government,” she said.

US Embassy in Pretoria spokesperson David Feldmann told the SA Jewish Report, “We stand by the ambassador’s remarks and we have nothing further to add.”