Presidency Spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya says while the grounding of a plane in Poland carrying presidential security personnel and journalists was unfortunate, it had no bearing on the success of the African Peace Mission.
The Polish government grounded the SAA charter aircraft at Warsaw airport, refusing to allow the guards or the weapons off the plane.
The almost 120 member team comprising 11 local journalists and over 90 South African Police Service (SAPS) and South African National Defence Force (SANDF) members arrived back home Monday.
Magwenya says President Cyril Ramaphosa’s security was not compromised.
“That’s not for me to say whether we needed that or not; all I’m telling you as an assurance is that at no point did we experience any significant threat to the life of the president. Now, security managers may have for their own reasons best known to them from a security point of view, sort to augment their deployment on the ground, that’s for them to respond to, not for me. I’m relating to you that the president at all times was safe and at all times, there was no threat to his life or that of his delegation, equally that applies to other heads of states that were there,” says Magwenya.
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The South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SACCI) has welcomed and supports the initiative by the African Peace Mission.
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President Cyril Ramaphosa, along with other African heads of state met with Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President, Vladimir Putin to work towards an end to the war between the two countries.
Ramaphosa presented the mission’s 10-point plan saying it was important to listen to what both leaders had to say.
SACCI President, Advocate Mtho Xulu says they also support government’s non-aligned position.
“I think we must move away from insisting on a narrative that our non-aligning means we are biased to one side. Our relationships are sound with both countries, as business we are trying to assist them to continue to have access to the South African market and we have not taken any position and we’ve maintained friendships on both side and our long-term solution is that let us build a world that has a place for everyone and create shared prosperity and we are non-aligned in that regard. That’s our understanding as business on Saturday the 17th.”
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