Polish authorities stopped a South African presidential security team and journalists accompanying President Cyril Ramaphosa on a peacekeeping mission to Russia and Ukraine.
They were disallowed from disembarking from their aircraft and were stuck for more than 11 hours. The president had left for Ukraine before the incident.
Mr Ramaphosa’s head of security, Major General Wally Rhoode, accused Poland of “racism” and said the Polish police claimed they acted because their South African security unit did not have permits for entry to the country.
“They are delaying us. They are putting the life of our president in jeopardy because we could have been in Kyiv this afternoon already,” he said, according to a video shared by eNCA.
“I want you guys to see this, how racist they are. When we started to open our packages, they wanted to confiscate our firearms, which is why we had to put them back.”
– Context behind the news
Poland has been one of the loudest critics of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Western countries, notably the United States, have criticised South Africa for its seeming romance with Russia despite the country’s invasion of Ukraine.
This week, four US Republican and Democratic senators wrote to Secretary of State Antony Blinken asking the U.S. government to punish South Africa for its stance on the war.
They want South Africa denied the right to host the US-Africa trade summit under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa). Membership of Agoa gives South Africa trade concessions with the U.S.
The U.S. also accused South Africa of supplying arms to Russia. But South Africa says it doesn’t mind losing the Agoa benefits.
Mr Ramaphosa’s spokesperson Vincent Magwenya told radio station 702 on Friday that the actions of the Polish authorities were surprising because Mr Ramaphosa’s security had all the necessary papers and permits.
“All passengers on the charter flight had Polish visas, because there was an understanding that they would transit in Poland,” he said.
“So it’s a bit difficult to understand what has informed the actions that were taken by the Polish authorities except to say we have a team on the ground consisting of embassy staff. Our own ambassadors are engaging with their counterparts trying to find speedy resolution to the impasse.”
Mr Magwenya said Mr Ramaphosa, who earlier met Poland’s President Andrzej Duda, did not discuss the country’s refusal to allow his protection unit entry to the country because the meeting happened prior to the situation.
“President Duda was actually quite positive and complimentary of the African leaders’ peace mission and referred to it as necessary and wise and was quite supportive of the mission,” Mr Magwenya said.
– Kiev attacked as African leaders visit
He said the peacekeeping mission was going as planned although three heads of African states had opted out of the visit.
The heads of state of Congo, Egypt and Uganda pulled out this week, sending their representatives instead. Egypt is represented by Prime Minister Mustafa Madbuli, and Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni is represented by a former prime minister, as he has tested positive for the coronavirus.
Mr Ramaphosa, alongside the leaders of Zambia, Senegal and Côte d’Ivoire arrived in Kyiv on a train from Poland as Kyiv was bombarded in a fresh missile by Russia.
“Explosion in the capital in the Podil district,’’ Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram, without providing further details about possible victims or the extent of the damage.
According to the Ukrainian army, ballistic missiles were fired at Kiev and air warnings sounded nationwide.
The leaders are to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky later, and will travel to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Both leaders have indicated they are willing to meet the delegation, which aims to mediate a ceasefire followed by a durable peace.
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