South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has said that an independent inquiry has found no evidence that a Russian ship collected weapons from the country late last year.
Ramaphosa in an address to the nation on Sunday said the accusations had a damaging effect on South Africa’s economy and its standing in the world, Reuters reports.
The US ambassador to South Africa had accused South Africa of supplying weapons to Russia despite its professed neutrality in the war in Ukraine.
According to the ambassador, Reuben Brigety, a Russian ship was loaded with ammunition and arms in Cape Town last December.
But in his address to the nation, Ramaphosa said, “The panel found that there was no evidence to support the claim that the ship transported weapons from South Africa destined for Russia.
“No permit was issued for the export of arms and no arms were exported.”
He said the ship had docked at the base to deliver equipment that had been ordered for the South African National Defence Force in 2018 by South Africa’s arms procurement company Armscor.
He said he could not reveal details of the equipment offloaded because that could compromise important military operations and put South African soldiers’ lives at risk.
“When all matters are considered, none of the allegations made about the supply of weapons to Russia have been proven to be true,” Ramaphosa said.
“None of the persons who made these allegations could provide any evidence to support the claims that had been levelled against our country.”
When the accusations were made, South African officials were quick to reject the claims, and Ramaphosa launched the independent inquiry led by a retired judge.