Ramaphosa Reaffirms S. Africa's "Non-Aligned Position" On Russia's War On Ukraine

In his weekly newsletter circulated this morning, South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa reaffirmed his country's "non-aligned position" and pledged that his country will resist pressure to "take sides in what is in effect a contest between Russia and the West."

• The piece sticks with the language framing Russia's invasion of Ukraine as a proxy war between global powers. However, Ramaphosa refrained from attributing blame to the West, in contrast with a resolution adopted by the ANC at its most recent national conference ("this is why the US provoked the war with Russia over Ukraine"). This highlights the familiar split in rhetoric used by the party and the administration.
• Ramaphosa wrote that "consistent with our stance on conflicts in other parts of the world, South Africa’s view is that the international community needs to work together to urgently achieve a cessation of hostilities and to prevent further loss of life and displacement of civilians in Ukraine."
• The piece comes after the U.S. accused South Africa of shipping weapons to Russia, albeit tensions appear to have eased somewhat over the weekend. In his newsletter, Ramaphosa reiterated that his administration "do not have concrete evidence to support these allegations" and hence "are establishing an independent inquiry headed by a retired judge to establish the facts."