Lady R: Ramaphosa’s arms deal panel accused of lacking military expert

The appointment of an independent panel of legal gurus to investigate allegations that SA sold arms to Russia has raised mixed feelings among experts with one believing it should have included at least one military expert while another welcomed it as a “good move” by President Cyril Ramaphosa.

On Sunday, Ramaphosa announced the three-member panel: retired judge Phineas Mojapelo as chair, advocate Leah Gcabashe and Enver Surty, a lawyer and former deputy minister of basic education.

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Defence experts needed

Political economy analyst Dr Daniel Silke said he would have liked to have seen one of the country’s many defence experts on the panel, considering that the issue was of a military nature.

“This appears to be an insider panel. This is an important panel. In trying to save face with the Americans, the findings will be of great importance,” Silke said.

But fellow expert Sandile Swana welcomed the panel’s appointment saying it was a “good move” by Ramaphosa. That it was headed by a “competent and credible” retired judge sent a clear signal that there was nothing to hide and that no weapons were sold or donated to Russia by SA.

But, Swana said, if Ramaphosa expected the panel to favour him, he might have chosen the wrong people as they may expose him if there was anything to expose as all three were expected to follow the principles of the law.

“While many criticise the idea of a panel, I support it. Clearly the panel is competent to apply the legal principles, the legal methods of collecting and interpreting evidence, as well as applying whatever statutes necessary in terms of the terms of reference given by the president,” Swana said.

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Silke said even if the panel report exonerated South Africa or found the US allegations against South Africa were true, there had to be some accountability about what really happened.

‘Don’t be alarmed by US sanctions’

Swana warned the country’s business leaders to be careful of raising the alarm on the back of rumours that the US would punish South Africa with sanctions.

“The US is not our number one trading partner. China is in terms of both imports and exports. Any gap that the US creates should be pre-emptively closed by the Brics countries.”

He said Russian President Vladimir Putin had done that successfully since 2014, following US and Nato sanctions.

Silke said the panel report should be able to pull the country out of its international embarrassment that it was perpetuating the Ukrainian war by arming Russia. He hoped the final report would not end in a “whitewash”, in which case the Americans “will be dissatisfied about what really happened”.

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He said considering that the allegations were made by a big power of America’s calibre, the allegations should be based on some sort of evidence or real suspicion.

The US wasn’t a small-fry country but was a foreign party with extensive access to intelligence, Silke said. “Any kind of findings here that runs counter to what the Americans believe will not pacify America and, of course, will continue to embarrass South Africa.

“Should South Africa be exonerated from any blame, it would only be legitimate if all available evidence – including intelligence evidence gathered by the Americans – was considered.”