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Better let a judge steer the ‘Lady R’
The industry of appointing inquiries, probes and commissions is thriving.
Advocate Dali Mpofu cross examines witness at Public Protector, Busisiwe Mkhwebane’s fitness to hold office on 25 August 2022. Picture: Gallo Images / Daily Maverick /Leila Dougan
Many things in our country may be going down the toilet, but the industry of appointing inquiries, probes and commissions is thriving.
In case you missed it, a retired judge will be recruited to assess and pass judgment on what was actually loaded into – or unloaded from – that Russian ship.
Before you roll your eyes, let us just say that having a truly independent mind and voice to pronounce on this diplomatic shambles is probably the right thing to do.
ALSO READ: US claims of SA-Russia arms exchange rattles rand
Do you trust the ANC government?
Who trusts our ANC government? You’d have to be spectacularly naïve to do so after all the lies it has told us and the bogus promises it has made over the years.
On the other hand, do we trust the US, which launched a massive allied invasion of Iraq in 2003 on the premise that Saddam Hussein was hiding “weapons of mass destruction”?
The waters have become so muddied with different versions and theories about what happened with the Lady R when it docked at Simon’s Town naval base in December last year.
Was it unloading a previously ordered shipment for our Special Forces, as claimed by Defence Minister Thandi Modise last year?
ALSO READ: Cargo was unloaded, not loaded, from ‘Lady R’ in Simon’s Town – expert
Or was it loading SA arms and ammunition as US ambassador Reuben Brigety II angrily claimed last week?
Other questions include: why did the Russian ship switch off its transponder – a clear violation of accept-ed maritime practice – as it neared South Africa?
If the arms were not officially sold, could they have been unofficially loaded, a possibility raised by Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni?
If the latter is the case, is there a dissident faction in the ANC looking after its Russian friends under the table?
An independent judge will demand to see all the documents – from official permissions to cargo manifests. Hopefully, these actually do exist…
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