By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Minister of Defence and Military Veterans Thandi Modise says government has not received a request to repatriate South Africans in Ukraine amid the Russian invasion.
Speaking during the Justice, Crime Prevention and Security (JCPS) cluster media briefing on Sunday, Modise said there were no plans to send the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) soldiers to Ukraine to assist in evacuating South Africans.
“Do we have plans to evacuate [South Africans from Ukraine]? Not as yet… we have not been officially told that South Africans wish to be evacuated either from Ukraine of Russia.
[As] you know, [the South African government] believes in dialogue and we hoping that a dialogue will be actually be followed in this situation… that’s all I can say. If and when the need arises [the media will be informed],” she said.
On Friday, the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco) appealed to South Africans stuck in Ukraine to try and leave for neighbouring countries.
The department said on Thursday that the South African Embassy in Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, was monitoring developments closely and was also assisting South Africans who reside in the Eastern European country.
Some South Africans have since arrived at the borders of Poland and Hungary, according to Dirco’s head of diplomacy, Clayson Monyela, who previously indicated that there were about 250 South Africans in Ukraine.
Monyela said some South African university students have managed to get to the borders of both countries, but encountered some problems.
Meanwhile Minister in the Presidency Mondli Gungubele has dismissed claims that the Department of International Relations and Cooperation contradicted President Cyril Ramaphosa over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
According to a Sunday Times report, Ramaphosa was said to be “unhappy” about Dirco’s statement this week in which the department called for Russia to withdraw its soldiers from Ukraine.
An unnamed source told the publication that Dirco’s statement contradicted South Africa’s position on the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
The president did not see the statement before it was issued and he does not agree with it. There are people within Dirco with an agenda that we must be enemies with Russia,” the source said.
But Gungubele refrained from commenting on whether the contradiction claims were true.
“The president was very clear on the matter as the commander in chief as regard to mediation, negotiation. Over and above that it is the stance of the country, more particular the last Cabinet, will always prefer peaceful solutions of conflicts.”
South Africa is a member of Brics – an economic grouping consisting of Brazil, Russia, India and China.
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