A bipartisan group of four members of Congress is asking the Biden administration to punish South Africa over its relationship with Russia.
South Africa’s neutral stance on the war in Ukraine and its continued ties with Russia has angered the US. The African nation has been accused of loading a Russian ship with military equipment that docked at a naval base near Cape Town in December 2022, but the US has offered no evidence to back up the claim.
In a letter to President Biden’s top aides, lawmakers claimed that “intelligence suggests that the South African government used this opportunity to covertly supply Russia with arms and ammunition that could be used in its illegal war in Ukraine.”
The letter listed examples of actions by South Africa that the US is unhappy about, including joint military exercises with Russia and China, and allowing a Russian plane to land at a South African military base. South Africa is also hosting an upcoming BRICS summit and is looking to facilitate Russian President Vladimir Putin’s participation despite the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court.
The lawmakers want Biden to take action against South Africa’s participation in a forum for the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), a law that provides duty-free access to markets in the US for dozens of African nations. South Africa is set to host the AGOA forum this year, but the lawmakers want that to change.
“We are seriously concerned that hosting the 2023 AGOA Forum in South Africa would serve as an implicit endorsement of South Africa’s damaging support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and possible violation of US sanctions law,” the letter reads.
The letter was signed by Senators Chris Coons (D-DE), James Risch (R-ID), and the top Republican and Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Reps. Michael McCaul (R-TX) and Gregory Meeks (D-NY).
Source: AntiWar.
