Ramaphosa can never be a Madiba

It must have crossed President Cyril Ramaphosa’s mind as he sat in the plane headed to the Ukraine that he could emerge from this situation as some sort of superhero.

That his African peace mission could meet Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday and on Saturday miraculously have both presidents flanking him at a press conference announcing an immediate cessation of hostilities.

And he would be hailed by the world as Nelson Mandela’s worthy successor, continuing in the great man’s footsteps of bringing peace to the world through negotiations.

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But this daydreaming must have been interrupted by a gentle shake on his shoulder followed by “Mr President, your security detail has been delayed in Warsaw and you’re about to enter a warzone without armed protection.”

And the reality of South Africa’s foreign affairs shambles must have hit the president really hard at that moment. So much has been said about Ramaphosa’s peace mission from “why would the president leave his own warzone with more than 70 murders a day to attempt to bring peace to war situation so far from home” to “you cannot keep a simple thing as lights on in your own house but dream of bringing peace to a global conflict?”

None of those observations are baseless, the president and his African peace mission are in fact an act of shooting for the moon but that does not make them not worth the effort.

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The biggest lesson that Ramaphosa and other African leaders need to take out of the shambolic Poland airport debacle that left Ramaphosa going into a warzone without a single gun are that international cooperation cannot be wished into place – real work must be done.

South Africa has had to learn the hard way that, in war situations, a non-aligned or neutrality stand is not just announced verbally, it must be communicated through the country’s behaviour at all times.

If a Russian ship named Lady R is going to make a clandestine stop at night at a South African naval base and have cargo loaded onto it during a time that America and her friends have declared that all those supporting Russia are automatic enemies, then South Africa must be prepared for the accusation that “your country is selling weapons to Russia and is an enemy”.

If South Africa will also stand by Russia’s side during a missile testing session on the eve of the anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, then it should come as no surprise when Ukraine’s friends cause a diplomatic embarrassment to the African peace initiative by “detaining” South Africa’s security detail for more than a day in Warsaw, Poland.

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That Poland could feel justified to do so and allow their far right-wing people to invoke the incarceration of convicted Chris Hani murderer Janusz Walus in defending their actions goes to show how little preparation was put into the trip.

Did South Africa get the go-ahead from Poland to land in Warsaw? Was the requirement for original permits for the cargo and weapons clearly communicated to South Africa prior to their departure?

Have Polish authorities ever raised Waluz’s incarceration and strict parole as a sore point between the two countries?

Ramaphosa’s mid-flight reverie of being a Nelson Mandela reincarnation shouldn’t be disturbed by being told that his security detail doesn’t have the right documents to accompany him to meet world leaders.

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Those little details are taken care of by having a clearly communicated foreign affairs policy that speaks nonalignment to every side without a shadow of a doubt