Pretoria - The Ministry of Defence and Military Veterans has hit back at widespread critics of the forthcoming military exercise where South Africa hosts the People’s Liberation Army Navy of China, and the Russian Federal Navy during a multilateral maritime exercise scheduled to take place from February 17.
Defence and Military Veterans Minister Thandi Modise said the exercise is highly beneficial for the three navies.
In recent months, South African military forces have had engagements with their counterparts including the UK, the People’s Republic of China, Nigeria, Ivory Coast and Ghana.
“There was no hype about any of these countries, especially with regard to the United States of America, wherein we held an even longer exercise, known as Exercise Shared ACCORD in KwaZulu-Natal last year regarding our military health capabilities,” said Modise.
She said the SANDF planned and budgeted for military exercises with other nations across the globe, both at bilateral and multilateral levels.
“Exercise MOSI II is no exception, including the Exercise Shared ACCORD we held with our USA armed forces counterparts. In addition, the biennial maritime Exercise Oxide between South Africa and France took place in November last year at the Simon’s Town Naval Base,” said Modise.
“We wish to state categorically that South Africa, like any independent and sovereign state, has a right to conduct its foreign relations in line with its own diplomatic relations and national interests.
“South Africa sees Exercise MOSI II as an opportunity to contribute towards further strengthening the strong bonds that exist between South Africa, Russia and China,” she said.
The former Speaker of Parliament highlighted that contrary to widespread assertions by critics, South Africa was not abandoning its neutral position on the Russian-Ukraine conflict.
“We remain firm in our view that multilateralism and dialogue are keys to unlock sustainable international peace. We continue to urge both parties to engage in dialogue as a solution to the current conflict,” said Modise.
Code-named Exercise Mosi II, the major maritime joint exercise is due to take place in Durban and Richards Bay in KwaZulu-Natal from February 17 to 27.
The exercise will be the second time of such co-operation comprising the three naval forces, with the first one held in November 2019 in Cape Town.
This year’s Exercise MOSI II will see more than 350 SANDF personnel from various arms of services and divisions participating alongside their Russian and Chinese counterparts.
Modise said she was confident that Exercise MOSI II would benefit all three participating nations.
“The envisaged exercise will benefit all countries involved through interoperability of the naval systems, joint disaster systems management enhancement, maritime cooperation and anti-piracy exercises,” she said.
In addition, Exercise MOSI II would serve as a platform for the three nations to share operational skills, expertise and experience.
South Africa enjoyed cordial diplomatic relations with all member states of BRICS (Brazil, Russia and China) at a bilateral level, in addition to the multilateral levels.
“We also enjoy defence diplomatic relations with several countries across all the continents of the world since we have become an integral part of the community of nations and no longer a pariah State,” said the minister.
IOL