Opinion / Columnist
Ramaphosa wants to destabilise BRICS
21 Jul 2023 at 13:49hrs | Views
President Ramaphosa's stance on President Putin attending BRICS summit in person is a charade by all standards.
What President Ramaphosa did was to surrender his powers and subordinate himself (and South Africa) to the will of Western powers, and their local proxies, who put him under self-created pressure to make sure President Putin did not set foot in the country.
It's all about destabilising BRICS, reversing the momentum around a multipolar world, and defending US imperialism and fading global dominance.
Through proxies, the West took President Ramaphosa to court, ran a media campaign against President Putin, and threatened hotel owners against booking accommodation for the Russian leader.
There is no law that prevented the president from guaranteeing President Putin's security and drama-free participation in the summit, if he so wished.
President Ramaphosa could have initiated a parliamentary process to amend existing laws and give immunity to sitting heads of state, or simply withdraw from the ICC.
Moreover, the president could have ignored the ICC and told the US to arrest President Putin when he attends the UN General Assembly in New York.
By all standards, President Ramaphosa appears to have used the DA - wittingly or unwittingly- to bypass his own powers and create an impression that his hand was forced ( a charade).
This whole thing, including the DA asking the court to force the president to release his affidavit, is part of the charade.
It smacks of collusion between President Ramaphosa and the DA against President Putin. The same goes for his decision to appoint a task team, led by Deputy President Paul Mashatile, to probe the implications of allowing President Putin in the country.
The answer to that question required no task team or investigation. A simple call to the State Attorney would have produced the answer on the spot, as well as mechanisms needed to pave the way for President Putin to visit SA, if President Ramaphosa was really keen.
So the DA court case, so-called ICC arrest warrant, Mashatile's task team, the anti-Putin media campaign, and the US legislators' call for Biden to remove SA from AGOA should be seen in the context of President Ramaphosa's charade and the West's grand plan to destabilise BRICS.
They know that President Putin and President Xi are key BRICS figures. And blocking and attacking President Putin is a sure way to frustrate and weaken the Global South.
Sadly, all this charade achieves is to damage South Africa's standing in the Global South, create trust issues, undermine our independent foreign policy, and make us a US vassal.
What President Ramaphosa did was to surrender his powers and subordinate himself (and South Africa) to the will of Western powers, and their local proxies, who put him under self-created pressure to make sure President Putin did not set foot in the country.
It's all about destabilising BRICS, reversing the momentum around a multipolar world, and defending US imperialism and fading global dominance.
Through proxies, the West took President Ramaphosa to court, ran a media campaign against President Putin, and threatened hotel owners against booking accommodation for the Russian leader.
There is no law that prevented the president from guaranteeing President Putin's security and drama-free participation in the summit, if he so wished.
President Ramaphosa could have initiated a parliamentary process to amend existing laws and give immunity to sitting heads of state, or simply withdraw from the ICC.
Moreover, the president could have ignored the ICC and told the US to arrest President Putin when he attends the UN General Assembly in New York.
This whole thing, including the DA asking the court to force the president to release his affidavit, is part of the charade.
It smacks of collusion between President Ramaphosa and the DA against President Putin. The same goes for his decision to appoint a task team, led by Deputy President Paul Mashatile, to probe the implications of allowing President Putin in the country.
The answer to that question required no task team or investigation. A simple call to the State Attorney would have produced the answer on the spot, as well as mechanisms needed to pave the way for President Putin to visit SA, if President Ramaphosa was really keen.
So the DA court case, so-called ICC arrest warrant, Mashatile's task team, the anti-Putin media campaign, and the US legislators' call for Biden to remove SA from AGOA should be seen in the context of President Ramaphosa's charade and the West's grand plan to destabilise BRICS.
They know that President Putin and President Xi are key BRICS figures. And blocking and attacking President Putin is a sure way to frustrate and weaken the Global South.
Sadly, all this charade achieves is to damage South Africa's standing in the Global South, create trust issues, undermine our independent foreign policy, and make us a US vassal.
Source - Twitter
All articles and letters published on Bulawayo24 have been independently written by members of Bulawayo24's community. The views of users published on Bulawayo24 are therefore their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Bulawayo24. Bulawayo24 editors also reserve the right to edit or delete any and all comments received.
