Mbalula won’t say why he tweeted about ‘landing in Ukraine’

Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula has refused to comment about whether he visited Ukraine amid the Russian invasion of the country.

Mbalula was addressing the media during an oversite visit of the Akasia Drivers Licence and Testing Centre (DLTC) in Tshwane on Monday where a number of protesters had gathered with placards calling for a better NaTIS online service.

Mbalula on Saturday tweeted “Just landed in Ukraine”, after which there was no further thread to the post.

The transport minister has about 2.7 million followers on Twitter, many of whom were wondering whether Mbalula was in fact in Ukraine.

During the briefing on Monday, Mbalula was asked to comment about the tweet.

Mbalula, however, said he was not taking any questions over the post.

“We [don’t need] to comment about that. Are the questions done on the driver’s licence?”

A journalist at the press briefing was ignored when she asked Mbalula why he did not want to comment on the tweet as it was posted on a public platform.

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Mbalula also retweeted a post by the Russian Embassy in South Africa claiming it has support among South Africans on its invasion of Ukraine.

“Dear subscribers, we have received a great number of letters of solidarity from South Africans, both individuals and organisations. We appreciate your support and [are] glad you decided to stand with us today, when Russia, like 80 years ago, is fighting Nazism in Ukraine!”

The German Embassy in South Africa responded to the Russian Embassy with a rebuttal.

“Sorry, but we can’t stay silent on this one, it’s just far too cynical. What Russia is doing in Ukraine is slaughtering innocent children, women and men for its own gain. It’s definitely not “fighting Nazism”. Shame on anyone who’s falling for this. (Sadly, we’re kinda experts on Nazism.)”

Mbalula has been widely criticised for the tweet as Ukrainians flee the country.

According to the UN-affiliated Organization for Migration in Geneva, 1.45 million people have fled the battered country just 10 days into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

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