Russia’s alleged plans to test ‘super missile’ in SA cause a stir

The SA National Defence Force’s (SANDF) military exercise with Russia and China, dubbed Exercise Mossi II, has caused a stir, with Action SA charging that South Africa cannot be a testing ground for Russian weapons.

The party said the joint exercise, scheduled to take place off the KwaZulu-Natal coast between 17 and 27 February, will amount to a propaganda exercise by Russia, to flex the country’s military might ahead of a potential escalation in the ongoing Ukraine-Russia war.

Reports that the media will be barred from the event and that it coincides with the anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on 24 February has aggravated the situation.

SA Declined US offer

According to DefenceWEB, the SANDF has previously declined offers to carry out naval exercises with the United States, instead proceeding with Exercise Mosi II with Russia and China.

Action SA leader Herman Mashaba said in statement that SA cannot afford to become involved in a new cold war between the West and the East, at a time when the country’s own house is falling apart.

He said the exercise will likely be seen as SA aligning with Russia in the midst of the Ukraine-Russia war, which may further antagonise strategic partners and ultimately risk trade relations crucial to the economy.

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Mashaba argued that taking on an explicit position of support for Russia may further harm SA’s reputation with international partners.

“At a time where our economy is already struggling, the reality is that we cannot afford to alienate major trade partners by becoming a participant in Russia’s military propaganda, which offers no clear benefit to SA,” he said.

Super missile

According to Mashaba, Russia is set to test its hypersonic Zircon missile, which he claimed has never been seen in public and was believed to be nearly unstoppable.

He said they were opposed to all forms of aggression and respected the sovereignty of the Ukrainian people during the ongoing conflict, and urged Pretoria to distance itself from the exercise.

Mashaba said the Russian-Ukrainian war has already brought immense suffering to the people of SA in the form of rising fuel and bread prices and resulted in thousands of civilian deaths in both countries.

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“It is concerning that the ANC-led government would contribute in any way to escalating the war. The ANC-led government should respect international rule of law and follow [Nelson] Mandela’s dream of SA using the international stage as a champion for human rights.

“Rather than being party to military exercises with an aggressor country, South Africa should be committing itself to help bring the war in Ukraine to an end.”

SANDF verifying US offer

Siphiwe Dlamini, SANDF spokesperson, would not respond to the furore, saying only that they have noted all the media articles and other commentary around the exercise.

He said reports about the “so-called decline” to participate in the naval exercises with the US were still to be verified, including whether such an invitation had even been sent.

Dlamini said this was because the Rear Admiral Chase Patrick, Director, Maritime Headquarters, US Naval Forces Europe-Africa who revealed information about the offer “did not say categorically that an invitation was sent to the SANDF, but is quoted as having said they would normally invite the SANDF. We are checking if indeed there was such an invitation”

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