The Democratic Alliance (DA) leader John Steenhuisen says the stance that the South African government has taken on Ukraine is embarrassing. He says South Africa cannot choose to be neutral in the face of the atrocities being committed by Russia in Ukraine.
He was hosting Ukrainian Ambassador to South Africa Liubov Abravitova outside the gates of parliament. DA leaders clad in T-Shirts in the colours of the Ukrainian flag stood beside Steenhuisen and the Ambassador as a sign of solidarity.
“We show solidarity with Ukraine, with what’s happening in Ukraine. So we’ve taken a number of steps here in parliament. Particularly because there’s going to be a significant impact of what’s happening in Ukraine on SA. Ukraine is one of pout biggest suppliers of cooking oil as well as grain and this going to have a knock-on effect on food prices and food security for ordinary South Africans. We’re already seeing rising fuel prices that are going to continue to rise as a result of Russian aggression in Ukraine.”
Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine two weeks ago with more than 2.5 million people having already fled the country.
International oil prices have fluctuated in recent weeks due to Russia being the world’s second top producer of crude oil.
The Ukrainian Ambassador to South Africa Liubov Abravitova has warned that the occupation of her country’s nuclear plants by Russian forces represents a major threat for the whole world.
She says the war in her country will impact the whole world, especially the poorest countries. “Remember that Ukraine has Chernobyl and has experienced bad experience of that. Now Ukraine doesn’t control it. Moreover, we have the biggest in Europe nuclear plant. If these shellings are attacking maternity hospitals, what is the difference for the Russian to attack this nuclear plant.”
