In the early stages of the war between Russia and Ukraine, John Steenhuisen, the DA leader, took it upon himself to visit Ukraine on what was regarded as a fact-finding mission and also maybe to smell first-hand the stench of death and blood of those who fell victim to the Russian attacks.
He was criticised by many and labelled an opportunist doing political grandstanding and trying to score cheap political points. Steenhuisen never had an interest in the unrest and war-infested Africa where thousands of black Africans are killed annually, but showed a keen interest when white Europeans kill each other.
Fast forward a few months and a cluster of African heads of state under the stewardship of our very own controversial Cyril Ramaphosa decided to visit Russia in their own right in what was dubbed the “African peace mission”.
This trip to Russia was undertaken with a dark cloud over his head and a lot of unanswered questions regarding, among others, the Russian vessel harboured at Simon’s Town Naval Base and the allegations that was put in the air by the US ambassador to SA, the warrant of arrest issued against Vladimir Putin by the International Criminal Court (ICC) and SA’s obligations as a member state, the up-and-coming Brics summit, etc.
Besides all of this, this so-called peace mission was just a front by Ramaphosa to portray his neutrality between the two countries and his well-orchestrated efforts to bring peace. This was all done to prohibit possible sanctions and hostility against SA from First World countries like Poland, who might view Ramaphosa and SA as a “devil’s advocate” in the whole saga.
While Ramaphosa and the African delegation try so hard to impress the world, Africa is burning to ashes. Our leaders simply don’t have the luxury and time to remove the plank from Putin’s eye while we ourselves have splinters in our eye. SA is facing a magnitude of war battles in the form of loadshedding, water crises, cholera, unemployment, crime, a broken healthcare system, etc.
Some African countries like Algeria, Burkina Faso, Chad, the DRC and Ghana, to name a few, face terrorist insurgencies. Others are facing treason, governments are being overthrown by extremist and rebel forces, civil wars, Zimbabwe is facing the hardest times economically, etc. Our very own war-infested Africa needs peace talks, not Europe.
Owen F Stoufers, Klerksdorp, North West
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