South Africa’s superyacht stance dubious

South Africa has, once again, emphasised its nonaligned position in international matters, but says it will not stop a superyacht owned by Russian tycoon Alexei Mordashov from docking in Cape Town today.

Mordashov is one of hundreds of prominent Russians, many of them megawealthy oligarchs, who have been sanctioned by the US and the European Union for their links to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Since he invaded Ukraine earlier this year, Putin and his country have been barraged with US-EU sanctions. South Africa has made it plain that it will not take sides in the Ukraine war – which, in itself, is being interpreted in North American and European capitals as support for Moscow because we refuse to condemn Putin, as most of the world has done.

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Our government, however, does have a legal and diplomatic point: It is only bound to honour sanctions imposed by the United Nations and, so far, oligarchs like Mordashov have not been restricted by the UN.

And the reality is that turning away the Russian superyacht will not help eject Putin or his troops from the Ukraine. But if our government believes our future lies with the opponents of the West, then our future could be interesting indeed.