South African water will host China, Russia and Iran for a week in January as their navies conduct maritime trade protection exercises.
South Africa’s hosting of a naval exercise with Russia, China and Iran is set to cause much debate in the coming weeks.
Exercise Will for Peace 2026, also known as Mosi III, will be the third such drill featuring South Africa, following the 2019 and 2023 variants.
The exercise will be led by China and hosted in South African waters between 9 and 16 January, focusing on “joint actions to ensure the safety of shipping and maritime economic activities”.
“This theme reflects the collective commitment of all participating navies to safeguard maritime trade routes, enhance shared operational procedures and deepen cooperation in support of peaceful maritime security initiatives,” the SANDF confirmed earlier this week.
Defence agreements since 2020
While BRICS nations have no formal military pact, there are several bilateral agreements, with the Centre for European Policy Analysis detailing Russia and China’s complex levels of cooperation.
South Africa has pending agreements with both, as well as other agreements with nations of varying significance.
The Department of Defence (DoD) recently confirmed the number of defence agreements signed since 2022 in a response to a parliamentary question signed off by Minister Angie Motshekga on 13 December.
The DoD was asked about the details of individual agreements, listing only nine signed in the last five years and excluding agreements signed with multi-national organisations.
In addition to Russia and China, the DoD signed agreements with four African nations, two European nations, and one other Asian nation.
South Africa has defence cooperation agreements with Ivory Coast and Burundi signed in December 2021 and June 2023, as well as memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed with Lesotho in May 2025.
The department’s other individual national obligation in Africa is with Ghana, after signing a defence training and technical cooperation in February 2023.
In Europe, South Africa has a defence cooperation agreement with Portugal, signed in June 2023, and a letter of intent with the Netherlands, signed in October 2023, for cooperation, training, and education.
South Africa’s other involvement in Asia is with Indonesia, with an MOU signed in August 2023 for “cooperation activities”.
Some not tabled in parliament yet
The DoD’s individual agreement with Russia was signed in June 2021 and covers the maintenance, repair, modernisation and modification of three types of helicopters.
The deal with China is listed only as defence cooperation described under Project Zingisa, costing 100 million RMB Yuan, or R236 million in today’s exchange rate.
In a separate response also signed off on 13 December, the DoD confirmed the deal was for the refurbishment of De Brug in Bloemfontein and “any other urgent needs of the SANDF”.
However, the ministry’s responses stated that the deal with China had not yet been tabled in parliament, while the Russian deal was still being tabled.
Other than the deal with Lesotho, all other agreements listed had been tabled in parliament.
“These instruments generally establish frameworks for defence cooperation, such as training exercises, high-level visits, information sharing and capacity building cooperation.
State Security Agency was not consulted
The department clarified that the agreements do not specify monetary commitments or financial values, except for the deal with China.
“Any financial implications arising from activities implemented under these agreements, such as travel costs for delegations or participation in training, are absorbed within the department’s existing budget,” the response stated.
The DoD was also asked to consult the National Treasury, the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO), and the State Security Agency (SSA) before signing such agreements.
The department stated that only Dirco was consulted prior to signing these agreements, but that treasury and the SSA were not.
“Dirco review the draft agreements to ensure that they comply with South Africa’s international legal obligations.
“National Treasury’s involvement may only be required after the finalisation of the agreement, where certain financial considerations or official development assistance processes must be addressed,” the response states.
The DoD concluded that the SSA was not part of the consultation processes, but that the key stakeholders were the Presidency, DIRCO and the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development.
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