EDITORIAL: Zelensky’s African safari

News that Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukrainian’s wartime president, is to visit SA as part of an African charm offensive is to be welcomed.

Pretoria, which has claimed to be nonaligned in the Eastern European conflict, has hitherto mishandled Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine.

SA, which is in an alliance with Russia through the Brics+ partnership, has been battling to communicate its neutral stance in the conflict. Even when a resolution came before the UN to declare Russia as an aggressor, SA stayed on the fence. In the middle of the two-year war, SA organised joint military exercises with Russia.

It diffused the threat of losing preferential market access for its automotive, commodity, clothing, and textile products to the US. The threat is not completely eliminated. Some US legislators remain homicidal against Pretoria.

If handled appropriately, the upcoming visit by Zelensky will revive hopes that Pretoria can still act as an honest broker in the war, which has been pushed further down the world’s priority list by the Red Sea and Gaza conflicts.  

Welcoming Zelensky to Pretoria will also rekindle memories of Ukrainians’ role in helping SA’s liberation movements overcome apartheid. This has been conveniently forgotten.

Even in his busy elections schedule President Cyril Ramaphosa needs to receive Zelensky with respect and hear out his issues. Otherwise, Pretoria’s mediation role will remain stillborn.