Cape Town – The US ambassador to South Africa, Reuben Brigety, has declined to comment on the controversial docking of the Russian ship Lady R at Simon’s Town Naval Base in 2022.
Earlier, Brigety had suggested that South Africa supplied Russia with arms loaded on the Russian vessel.
This raised concerns about South Africa’s involvement in supplying weapons to Russia amid the Russia-Ukraine war.
Although he apologised for his remarks, Brigety never retracted the statement.
In an interview with 702, Brigety acknowledged the seriousness of the Lady R incident and expressed appreciation for South Africa’s government taking the matter seriously.
He confirmed that discussions with the South African government had been initiated, and both governments agreed to handle the matter through diplomatic channels, limiting further public statements.
Brigety remains mum on #LadyR remarks
– @ReubenBrigety tells @bonglez that he cannot comment further about his remarks that SA loaded weapons onto #LadyR. #702Breakfast #LadyR #Russia #702WalkTheTalk pic.twitter.com/gwHFXhqZAB
— 702 (@Radio702) September 27, 2023
“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.
Brigety emphasised the strength of the partnership between the US and South Africa and his commitment to integrity and transparency.
“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,” he said.
Brigety added: “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.”
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Compiled by Betha Madhomu
