The South African presidency has released the executive summary of a report into the docking of the Russian ship Lady R, concluding that US accusations were unfounded.
As noted in the summary, the order was placed by the Armaments Corporation of South Africa back in 2018, however, the manufacturing, packaging and delivery of the equipment was delayed due to the COVID-19 virus outbreak and the conflict in Ukraine, among other factors.
Investigators explained the choice of Simon's Town naval base by the fact that shipping agents in Port Elizabeth, where the ship was originally scheduled to dock, refused to service the vessel because it was under US sanctions. At the same time, the US sanctions were not endorsed by the United Nations and therefore not binding on South Africa, the commission emphasized.
The inquiry panel added that Lady R was not the choice of Pretoria, as it could not have influenced the selection of the ship under contractual obligations with the UAE company.
The panel based its inquiry on questioning 47 people associated with the case under oath, reviewing more than 100 documents, and inspecting the port of Simon's Town.
South Africa has denied involvement in arms shipments to Russia from the outset. On May 11, in response to US Ambassador Brigety's accusation, the South African Foreign Ministry sent an official protest to the diplomatic body.
Following the protest, the ambassador admitted that he crossed the line and apologized.
A month later, South African Defense Minister Thandi Modise called the US accusations propaganda, noting that Pretoria did not breach any sanctions over the docking of the Russian vessel.