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Naledi Pandor and Russia's foreign minister Sergei Lavrov attend a press conference as Brics foreign ministers meet in Cape Town, June 1, 2023. Picture: REUTERS/NIC BOTHMA
Naledi Pandor and Russia's foreign minister Sergei Lavrov attend a press conference as Brics foreign ministers meet in Cape Town, June 1, 2023. Picture: REUTERS/NIC BOTHMA

When I was first confronted with the photograph on the front page of Business Day on Friday featuring international relations & co-operation minister Naledi Pandor and Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov, it appeared that Pandor was crying. 

I thought perhaps Lavrov had just told her about the number of people Russia has killed in Ukraine, the number of homes and buildings it has destroyed, and the number of children that have been torn from their mothers and sent to Russia.

Then I looked at the picture more closely and saw that Pandor wasn’t crying — she was laughing her head off. How low this government has sunk.

Nick Madsen

Cape Town

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