US ambassador Reuben Brigety refuses to be drawn into Russian ship Lady R saga

The US ambassador to South Africa, Reuben Brigety, has refused to be drawn into the controversial docking of Russian ship Lady R in Simon’s Town Naval Base in 2022.

Brigety in May claimed that South Africa supplied Russia with arms, which he said were loaded on the Russian vessel.

The docking of the cargo ship became the subject of controversy in recent months, with allegations surfacing that South Africa was supplying weapons to Russia amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.

Bet your life

Brigety said he would “bet his life” that South Africa was supplying arms to Russia. While he apologised for his remarks, he has never withdrawn the statement.

Speaking to 702 recently, he said the Lady R saga was “very serious”.

“We very much appreciate the fact that the government of South Africa has taken this matter seriously. We have been in conversation with the government and our government agreed that this matter will be discussed strictly in diplomatic channels going forward and therefore I do not intend to speak more publicly on the topic.”

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SA/US relations

Brigety said the US has a strong partnership with South Africa.

“Our partnership with the government of South Africa is strong. We have a broader agenda which we are working on and we have agreed that this is a matter that must remain proverbially relegated to restricted channels.”

Brigety underpinned his integrity and transparency as the reason for his remarks.

“I have been in public service literally all my adult life and in that entire time frame, I had developed the reputation and a practice of integrity and also for transparency. And so my first instinct always is to be transparent. Clearly in the realm of diplomacy there is sometime which a greater level of discretion is desirable.

“We had a number of conversations in the days immediately thereafter. I am very grateful to have had this conversation with a series of very senior members of government and we continue to have a broader formidable agenda.” Brigety said.

Lady R ‘executive summary’ report

Meanwhile, the release of the “executive summary” of the findings of an investigative panel appointed by President Cyril Ramaphosa into the controversial docking of the Russian ship in Simon’s Town in 2022 raised more questions than answers.

A statement by the Presidency earlier this month made it clear that the investigation into the docking is closed.

“Due to the classified nature of the evidence that informed the report, the government will not publicly engage further on the substance of the report,” it said.

The four-page “executive summary” of the findings of the investigative panel into the docking is vague and provides scant insight into details surrounding the investigation.

The watered-down summary of the report reveals the panel established that the goods delivered by the Lady R in Simon’s Town were equipment for the SANDF, which it had requested, had been ordered by Armscor from a company based in the United Arab Emirates.

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