Deputy president David Mabuza said on Wednesday he believed that no amount of condemnation or side-taking would resolve the raging war between Ukraine and Russia.
“Diplomacy remains the key tool at our disposal to end the war and persuade parties to deliver peace and stability,” he said.
Mabuza was responding, during a virtual sitting of the national council of provinces (NCOP), to questions relating to various issues including SA’s decision to abstain during a recent UN General Assembly vote.
In his first appearance at the NCOP this year since the opening of parliament, Mabuza said: “The president took a call from [Russian President] Vladimir Putin ... in which he expressed our support for ongoing negotiation efforts between Russia and Ukraine. We believe that diplomacy is always the sensible pathway in averting outbreak of conflict and war. It should be pursued even when we are in a situation of war, so that we can end it and engage in a post-conflict reconstruction measures.”
Mabuza said SA continued to call for the de-escalation of conflict, cessation of hostilities and for parties to work together towards building trust and confidence by intensifying existing peace mechanisms and dialogues to achieve long-lasting solutions to the conflict.
SA, he said, emphasised the respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of states.
“As a nation born through negotiations ourselves, we are always appreciative and confident of the potential that dialogue has in resolving conflict. Therefore we call upon the parties to devote increased efforts to diplomacy and finding a solution that will help avert the escalations of positions.”
Mabuza said SA would continue to support peaceful and diplomatic negotiations as an essential tool to achieve peace.
We are committed to international peace and to internationally agreed mechanisms that will resolve conflict.
— Deputy president David Mabuza
“We remain hopeful that the doors of diplomacy will remain open, even after conflict has escalated to this level.”
He told MPs that both parties were locked in meetings to try to resolve their problems.
The DA’s Cathlene Labuschagne asked Mabuza to, in his position as the leader of government, help SA make financial sense of why the government took a neutral stance and whether he would be meeting with the Ukrainian ambassador to SA, Liubov Abravitova.
Mabuza responded by saying that Ramaphosa had initiated an open-door policy by communicating with Putin. “I am sure the president will continue to contact the president of Ukraine for discussion, because we want to re-emphasise the underlying principles of our foreign policy and our foreign relations.”
Mabuza said SA was committed to justice and international law in the conduct of the relations between nations.
“We are committed to international peace and to internationally agreed mechanisms that will resolve conflict.”
SA had taken a position that emphasised the de-escalation of conflict and war through peaceful negotiations and through diplomatic dialogue.
He emphasised that there was no contradiction in SA’s stance because, “even when we are already in a war situation, diplomacy should not be neglected as a means towards peace and stability”.
“Conflicts and wars can stifle growth, inhibit development, breed discontent and are a recipe for further disasters,” he said.
FF Plus’s Stephanus du Toit asked Mabuza if, considering the historical ties that SA shared with Russia, SA would continue to remain neutral even though Nato was considering imposing sanctions on SA because of this.
Mabuza responded by saying Ramaphosa was the leader of the government and in any foreign matter the president was the right person to guide the country.
“We support the statement made by the president that we prefer mediation and dialogue as the best way to achieve sustainable peace.
“Yes, we have strong relations with the then Soviet Union, the now Russian Federation and we are cooperating together in Brics. That does not mean we are blind to the situation that has arisen between Russia and Ukraine.
“We have decided not to take sides and don’t want to go into historical challenges that have developed and are at the centre of the conflict. It won’t help anyone to blame Russia or Nato. The most sensible way to resolve this is through dialogue between the two countries.”
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