Presidency says DA is playing politics in Lady R court action

President Cyril Ramaphosa acted within the law when he appointed a retired judge to investigate the controversial Lady R saga at Simons Town, and the courts will vindicate him, presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya told a media briefing on Wednesday.

The independent panel was appointed soon after US ambassador Reuben Brigety raised concerns that SA had allegedly supplied weapons and ammunition to aid Russia in its invasion of Ukraine. He said the crew of the Russian ship, Lady R, had docked at Simons Town naval base and collected arms destined for sanctions hit Russia.

Brigety said this was a betrayal of the stance of nonalignment that SA had been publicly claiming. 

SA denied the allegations and Ramaphosa appointed the panel to establish the circumstances that led to the docking of the ship, the alleged loading of cargo, and the departure of the Lady R cargo ship from Simon's Town during the period of December 6-9 2022.

“Ramaphosa acted within the law in doing so and we are quite confident this appointment will withstand scrutiny‚”  said Magwenya.

The DA has approached the Pretoria high court over the controversy‚ saying it was unconstitutional for Ramaphosa to appoint retired judge Phineas Mojapelo to investigate the Lady R matter.

Mojapelo chaired a panel that investigated the veracity of allegations. He was assisted by advocate Leah Gcabashe and former basic education deputy minister Enver Surty.

“It is incompatible with the judicial office for a judge to be appointed to an unregulated and secret investigation panel, which reports confidentially only to the executive‚” the DA’s Glynnis Breytenbach said in court papers filed earlier in September in the Pretoria high court.

Magwenya said Ramaphosa decided to appoint the independent panel after carefully considering “the delicate balance needed between the public’s right to information and the state’s need to secure information‚ the disclosure of which mayjeopardise our national security and/or international relations.

“Hence the president decided to appoint an independent panel rather than a commission of inquiry as provided for in terms of the constitution. The president carefully considered his decision to appoint a retired judge to head the panel," he said.

He said the DA’s application was politically motivated.

“In its politically motivated court action‚ the DA wants to undermine the country’s national interest‚ failing to appreciate the importance of resolving this matter in a manner that is credible and expeditious.

“The DA is failing to appreciate the damage this issue has caused to our economy and potentially to very important diplomatic relations, which are repaired as a result of the level of credibility that is attached to the panel and its work‚ the outcome of the investigation and the intensive amount of diplomatic work that has been conducted to date and is still being managed.”

In a shocking media briefing on May 11, Brigety said he was confident that weapons were loaded onto the ship‚ straining diplomatic relations between SA and the US.

In August‚ the panel found no evidence that weapons had been loaded onto the ship. The full report has remained confidential with only an executive summary publicly released in September.

The investigation preceding its report was also conducted confidentially‚ and its terms of reference were not made public. It was not a commission of inquiry governed by the Commissions Act‚ and the panel did not have the power to subpoena evidence or witnesses.

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