SOUTH Africa Presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya has poured cold water on comments by President Cyril Ramaphosa’s top cop maj-gen Wally Rhoode regarding safety concerns during the African leaders’ peace mission in Europe.
“I’d like to assure all South Africans that there has been no compromise whatsoever to the president’s safety as a result to the impasse that involved the charter flight with the Presidential Protection Services team and the media,” Magwenya said on Friday.
He tweeted a video saying Ramaphosa arrived safely in Kyiv, Ukraine, by train with other heads of state and government who are part of the African peace mission to Ukraine and Russia.
His comments came after dramatic scenes unfolded in Poland in the early hours of Friday morning. The crew of about 120 special forces, including Rhoode, Ramaphosa’s head of protection, were barred from disembarking from an SAA chartered flight upon arrival at the Warsaw Chopin Airport.
At the heart of the matter was the demand by the Polish government for the crew to produce original copies of permits for arms South Africa brought on the mission. Local authorities threatened to confiscate them, but after intense negotiations they were loaded back onto the aircraft.
There was also a matter involving flight clearances not being issued. When members of the crew landed, they were meant to board another chartered flight to Rzeszów in Poland, then proceed to St Petersburg in Russia.
Originally, some journalists were to cover the Ukraine leg of the trip, during which Ramaphosa would on Friday meet Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky. The others were set to cover the Russian part of the mission on Saturday. At the time of publication, the presidency was tweeting about the mission while the media contingent was stuck on the aircraft.
“We acknowledge the regrettable nature of that incident. Our officials are engaging with their Polish counterparts to resolve the impasse so the … team, as well as the media, can proceed with the journey as planned, as well as cover, at least, the Russian leg of the peace talks. We are deeply disturbed by the experience that they have gone through and we are engaging our Polish counterparts to ensure the situation is resolved,” it said.
TimesLIVE reported earlier that Ramaphosa’s life was on Thursday “put in jeopardy” after highly trained members of his protection team, including the head of Presidential Protection Services, remained stuck in the plane due to aviation regulations and bureaucracy. Rhoode accused the Polish government of “deliberately sabotaging”
Ramaphosa’s peace initiative after an SAA chartered plane ferrying about 120 special forces members and journalists was detained on Thursday. Meanwhile, on Thursday Ramaphosa met Polish president Andrzej Duda and other officials, accompanied by international relations minister Naledi Pandor, special envoy Bejani Chauke and legal adviser Nonkululeko Jele.
The media has been unable to cover the Ukraine leg of the mission because of the impasse between SA and Poland. — TimesLIVE
