Cyril Ramaphosa desperately needs Russia and Ukraine to listen to the “African peace plan” which he is leading. He needs diversions.
A diversion from the belief, in the United States and its Nato allies, that South Africa is supporting Moscow and not honouring its commitment to being “non-aligned”.
He also needs a diversion domestically, to take people’s attention away from our slow collapse into the heart of darkness (in more ways than one). It wouldn’t hurt, either, if he could leave a legacy behind as the man who helped end a war.
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No doubt the Russians would listen to him, because he and the other African leaders he represents were, after all, those who abstained from voting against Russia last year in the United Nations in a resolution condemning the invasion.
Whether Kyiv would be as welcoming – especially with the allegation that SA supplied weapons to Russia still far from finalised – is another question entirely.
Ramaphosa’s characterisation of the start of the Ukraine slaughter as an “outbreak of hostilities”, along with his belief that the conflict is really a war between the West and Moscow, comes straight from Vladimir Putin’s playbook.
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Ramaphosa has to convince the world we are still an honest broker.
