LETTER: Sucking up to a despot

President Cyril Ramaphosa reached a new low in sucking up to a warmongering despot who, according to the Wall Street Journal, is now responsible for more than 1-million deaths in the Ukraine war.

Yet not a peep on this out of our president, who rather describes Russian President Vladimir Putin and his compatriots as “valuable friends and allies”. This being a country 12,000km from us with which we have little to no trade, the only thing in common being that they also called themselves “comrade”.

Yet Ramaphosa spent hours criticising the UN Security Council, and of course Israel, on Gaza, where what he describes as a “genocide” has cost 35,000 lives. And he wants to kick the Taiwanese trade office out of Pretoria because another country run by despots wants to bully a democratic country.

I would love to know what the payback is here. In the Chinese case he could not even use his “special relationship” to get train parts after his friends from the state capture years accepted bribes. In Russia’s case I am sure a few Phala Phala-type mattresses have been delivered to help the ANC election fund. Cheap at the price for Putin.

Who in the democratic world takes Ramaphosa seriously? He wants to reform the UN, but who is going to listen to him apart from the AU and a few Brics countries?

Rob Tiffin
Cape Town

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