The wargames of Exercise Mosi II make an absolute nonsense of South Africa’s claim to neutrality

South Africa has stridently maintained that it is neutral in the one-year-old Russia-Ukraine conflict. If that stance could ever be maintained with integrity, 17 February 2023 marked its end with the commencement of Exercise Mosi II.

Last week the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) welcomed Russian and Chinese navy vessels with open arms to conduct “a multinational maritime exercise” intended to “strengthen the already flourishing relations between South Africa, Russia and China”.

The original itinerary involved conducting exercises relating to “interoperability of the naval systems, joint disaster systems management enhancement, maritime cooperation and anti-piracy exercises”.

However, it has since come to light that Russia may also use this opportunity to demonstrate its hypersonic missile, Zircon, which is reportedly unstoppable as it flies low and fast, evading detection by radar and rendering countermeasures ineffective.

In addition, and more disturbingly, the Minister of Defence and Military Veterans Thandi Modise says that Exercise Mosi II “will serve as a platform for the three nations to share operational skills, expertise and experience”.

The military exercise is timed to coincide almost exactly with the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022. That invasion has been characterised by the conduct of hostilities on Russia’s part that is indifferent to whether targets are civilians, combatants or even protected objects and buildings.