SMOKE THAT BLUNDERS
Exercise in obscenity: South Africa only helps Vladimir Putin by hosting naval drills off Durban
The very last thing the South African military should be doing is celebrating with some military training and cooperation with the Russian Navy on the very anniversary of the launch of a Russian invasion of a neighbouring state.
‘In this Traffick they would frequently keep our goods and make no return, till at last I was obliged to fire a musket ball close past one man who had served us in this manner after which they observed a little more honesty, and, at length, several of them came on board.”
— Captain James Cook in The Hunt for the Southern Continent.
“We have met the enemy, and he is us.”
— Cartoon character Pogo, by way of his creator, Walt Kelly.
Back when Britain ruled the waves, or so it was said and sung about (He is an Englishman — Australian version), there was an implicit understanding that an occasional bit of adroit gunboat diplomacy was just the thing to keep order on an unruly planet — and make other nations tremble at the baleful possibilities of much worse if they didn’t snap to, right smartly.
Recall, for a moment, how a small squadron of British naval vessels cowed the Omani sheikh who ruled Zanzibar into a very quick surrender and acceptance of British overlordship, after just a few perfunctory shells had been fired at the town’s fortifications.
Force projection
Nowadays, of course, we might prefer to label similar things as force projection rather than gunboat diplomacy, but there is still much in common between them.
Rather than firing a few rounds from a naval vessel on patrol, nowadays it is more usual to make use of an aircraft carrier strike force — if one happens to have one handy — and to send it steaming towards a trouble spot at flank speed.
Then, carrier-launched jet fighter-bombers will very visibly be sent off to fly around at supersonic speed to let the other guys know what could be in the offing, Top Gun style, if those annoying tensions don’t get tamped down quickly. Such activity is meant as anything but secret.
In fact, the planning divisions of major military powers’ defence establishments usually have such operations worked out in detail for almost any conceivable eventuality, pretty much anywhere on the planet.
(Putting out some historical trivia readers can use at their next dinner party: besides battle plans against the usual potential enemies like Japan, back in the 1920s the US military even had an operational plan worked out to blockade and then invade Canada, in the event the US and Britain came to blows for reasons that would be unfathomable nowadays.)
Showing the flag
Another frequent version of putting maritime forces to work, beyond their obvious role in actual combat operations, is what is often referred to as “showing the flag”.
In such cases, there is no real intention to engage in or even signal possible hostile action. Instead, there is the idea that the presence of a naval vessel or two or three or even a whole flotilla of them, if possible, would demonstrate the immense power and majesty of the country operating such “goodwill voyages” and “port calls” — thereby showing concretely the peaceful intentions of the owner of those vessels, right along with their power.
When Theodore Roosevelt was the American president back at the beginning of the 20th century, he sent the country’s shiny, new, modern fleet — a country still basking in its earlier victory over the doddering Spanish empire — to tour the globe.
The ships were nicknamed the “Great White Fleet”, resplendent as they were with their white paint and polished guns, rails and stanchions. That voyage had been one of showing the flag — a worldwide announcement of the arrival of the newest global power with the military toys to match, without firing a shot.
That voyage could be seen in comparison to the heroic but doomed journey of the Russian Fleet, sailing at great speed from its usual European berths, all the way around Africa and on to annihilation by a Japanese fleet in the Tsushima Strait during Russia’s disastrous 1905 war with that island nation.
In this case, Japan’s victory at sea and then on land had similarly announced the arrival of another new military power.
More usually, as part of showing the flag in peaceable times, port calls will involve a schedule of public gestures. There will be demonstration sports matches between teams from the ships’ crews and the host nation; a detachment of sailors will volunteer to paint an orphanage or primary school; band concerts will take place in port; carefully escorted VIP and everyday citizens will be given tours of the ship or ships; and then there will be the inevitable outdoor reception under temporary marques, showing off the culinary talents of the ships’ mess crew, and a toast or two to everlasting friendship between the two sides.
The media loves this kind of thing.
There is much activity to observe, and everybody gets to have a good time. And, of course, the local pubs are especially grateful for the extra business those thirsty sailors wandering around on shore leave will generate when they are not on duty.
These are some of the practical benefits such ship visits can generate.
Joint drills
South African Navy corvettes built by German company Thyssen Krupp at anchor in Simon’s Town. (Photo: Supplied)
When there are joint exercises with the host country’s forces as well, for maritime forces, these can come through the working out of interoperability regimens between different naval cultures, and training cooperation to be determined in advance of having to deploy together on things like anti-piracy patrols or humanitarian and disaster relief in the event of famines, floods, tsunamis and earthquakes.
For joint exercises between different nations’ ground forces, there is the need to be prepared to cooperate on disaster relief as well — or in the eventuality of a joint deployment in a peacemaking or peacekeeping operation.
Such exercises allow for the respective forces’ commanders to understand better the capabilities and limitations of the respective militaries. (Between formal allies, of course, such training efforts are a key element of an alliance structure and they often take place in accordance as part of routine, annual schedules.)
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Often, in such exercises, only small contingents of forces actually carry out joint training in operations in the field. Instead, there are very detailed “table top exercises” — something like a cross between hi-tech versions of Risk and those battlefield simulations so popular with electronic gamers.
Such efforts ensure the respective command structures know how to act in coordinated ways in the middle of combat or near-combat — before they have to do so for real.
But in the case of navies, it is those big, grey-painted ships that count.
South African President Thabo Mbeki (L) waves to the fleet onboard the South African Navy vessel SAS Protea during the Presidential Fleet Review in Simonstown, South Africa 05 September 2008. EPA/NIC BOTHMA
They are not off training somewhere in some isolated wilderness, and after they steam around on the water in their drills, they come into port. There is no way to avoid seeing them on the horizon (or in the news broadcasts of officially sanctioned video images of the exercises), and then even more so once they are in a harbour.
That is the point of the whole thing, after all. Ships send a really concrete signal no one can miss. It is a signal of power, potential, potency and/or provocativeness, as we see planned for this three-country exercise.
Exercise in obscenity
Right here is where we encounter the nub of the day’s lesson. That, of course, is the astonishing, even appalling, announcement that South Africa will be engaged in joint naval exercises with China and Russia in the Indian Ocean between 17 and 27 February.
The obscenity of this is hard to overstate.
On the off-chance that nobody in the South African government managed to notice the date, 24 February marks the beginning of the Russian invasion of its neighbour, Ukraine.
The very last thing the South African military should be doing on that day is celebrating with some military training and cooperation with the Russian navy on the very anniversary of the launch of a Russian invasion of a neighbouring state. (We can grant the Chinese a pass on this one, this time. At least this joint naval exercise is not taking place on the anniversary of China’s deadly 1989 crackdown on the Tiananmen Square demonstration in Beijing, or China’s violent crushing of more recent freedom of expression protests in Hong Kong.
For nearly a year, the South African government has bloviated on about its sacred neutrality — and simultaneous warm friendship with its BRICS partner, Russia — in the face of an ongoing invasion of Ukraine by Russia.
As the invasion progressed, it has included massive, deadly attacks on civilian Ukrainian settlements — apartment blocks, schools, hospitals and other such facilities, along with the country’s transportation, water and energy infrastructure.
Human rights violations
Then there have been the increasingly well-documented descriptions of violations of the human rights of Ukrainian civilians. These have included torture, summary executions and imprisonment of Ukrainians in cities and towns that have come under Russian occupation — either temporarily or, so far, permanently.
Given this recent record, what conceivable skills South Africans expect to learn from Russia through a military joint exercise is mind boggling.
Never mind that this exercise takes place thousands of kilometres from Russia’s normal fleet operations.
In explaining this activity, the SANDF says the exercise is “with an aim of sharing operational skills and knowledge. While Exercise Mosi will be conducted in the southern oceans over the said period, it will coincide with the Armed Forces Day celebration that will take place at uMhlathuze Municipality in Richards Bay, east of KwaZulu-Natal province.”
But it actually seems to be part of a larger effort binding South Africa to Russia that can include the visit by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and South Africa’s hosting of the BRICS summit this year.
Throughout all the death and destruction in Ukraine, not a word of condemnation — or even a gentle cautionary frown or quiet pursing of official lips — has come forth from South African officials about such behaviour.
Boosting the Moscow narrative
Moreover, there has been scant shaking of official heads about ongoing efforts by Russia to prevent Ukrainian exports of grain to a hard-pressed world (including African and Middle Eastern purchasers and international bodies that provide emergency foodstuffs to refugees and famine victims), thereby generating a major price rise of agricultural commodities.
Lady R, a Russian cargo vessel in Simon’s Town harbour on 6 December 2022. (Photo: Supplied)
This act of staying shtum about things that might be embarrassing was even extended to any comment about the recent, mysterious berthing in Simon’s Town naval facilities of a Russian freighter listed under the multinational sanctions regimen, and its equally mysterious loading and unloading of cargo at night.
In view of the concurrence of this planned naval exercise with Russia (and China) with Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, the very least the South African government could have done would have been to indicate quietly (or loudly, if they had had the courage to do so) that this joint exercise is now scheduled to be taking place at an inappropriate time for such festivities, given the military circumstances in Ukraine.
The fact that they have not done so, and the confluence of visits and meetings and this exercise, can only contribute to the conclusion that this is a kind of provocative showing of the flag by the Russians and an upraised middle finger to the world about its military posture.
Steven Gruzd, the head of the Russia-Africa programme at the South African Institute of International Affairs, noted, “Russia is trying to indicate that it’s not isolated internationally; that it has international military reach.
“And South Africa, by agreeing to hold these exercises, or going ahead with them, is feeding into that narrative that Moscow’s putting out.”
In the meantime, the Chinese get to come along for the ride and they will get a ringside seat to evaluate the capabilities of the Russian navy in actual operations far from home. DM
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One wonders if the ANC is in a position to decide who to support over Ukraine. I would guess these hapless politicians have weakened their financial position so severely that they have no choice. The support for Russia in this will not be missed by the west. There will be excuses and probably will be accepted with understanding but insulting historical allies in this way will have repercussions for SA.
This really beggars belief. South Africa shows itself to be a faithful flying monkey to Psychopathic Russia. The lesser narcissists grovel before the power of the almighty psychopath in the sky.
Russia owns the ANC. It’s as simple as that. This should be obvious to all by now; and that it doesn’t care about South Africa or its global standing at all.
Spot on, Keith! I have no other words to add to your observation but I do hang my head in shame.
Agreed
Thank you very much, Mr Spector, for another very insightful and thought provoking article, I always enjoy your assessment of South African and general international relations, in light of the historical context. It certainly is appalling how the South African government is unabashedly supporting Russia, the pretence of “neutrality” has become less and less credible with each subsequent step that the government has taken. It is one thing to express “neutrality”, but participating in military exercises with Russia, and allowing sanctioned Russian ships to use South African ports, is active support for Russia, not “neutrality”.
When so much of South Africa’s trade is with Europe and North America, and when global sentiment is very largely condemnatory of Russia’s actions, tying South Africa ever more strongly to the Russian rogue regime, and China’s authoritarian regime, is unbelievably ill advised and incomprehensible (except either on outmoded ideological grounds or due to the existence of other incentives for the ANC and personal incentives for Ministers) and will severely harm South Africa’s international standing and also very likely trade relations and investment that are so vital for South Africa.
The Naval drills are simply a publicity stunt and do not add to the naval readiness of the South African Navy. Given that the South African Navy is in ICU with no naval assets and capability to really speak of, the drills are ego drills that serve no purpose. The SA Navy has only 47 assets with 3 derelict submarines, 9 patrol boats of which only one is for offshore patrols, less than 10 frigates and only three destroyers, 6 mine counter boats. In short, we have a navy that cannot even defend Port Elizabeth and that is frankly a joke with no fighter aircraft. This is fruitless and wasteful expenditure for vanity purposes. We do not have any naval capability as the arms deal became shambles and the
the defence spending has been one of the most wasteful criminal acts. The Zuma trial is just a cover up for the real criminality behind the arms deal.
AGREED.
I am surprised that Brazil and India were not also involved in this ego stroking exercise. Goodness knows, they are as deficient as the SA government in terms of an honest anti-fascism and
-totalitarian stance. Nice friends we have.
The tally of assets is seriously incorrect and outdated. There are only 4 frigates, three subs and a number of lesser vessels. The destroyers, additional frigates and the TON and German sweepers and hunters were disposed in the ’80s to early 2000.
You sound like you know what you are talking about but where did any frigates come from? The last frigates I ever heard of had already long been decommssioned when I joined up in 1984 – the so-called “President” class, one of which (the PK?) went down in a collision with the Tafelberg many years before, leaving the Steyn and maybe one other still tied up in Simon’s Town, rusting faster than the dockyard could repaint them. My memory is poor but I believe those ships might have been war surplus – I worked in Stores and saw many an ancient part that had been (re)packed in the 50’s. So frigates? Maybe not. Also destroyers? Did we ever have any destroyers? We did acquire a small handful of corvettes as part of the much-vaunted 14- or 24- or 54-billion rand (🤷♂️) arms deal that was sealed in Mandela’s day. I do wonder if any of them are still seaworthy.
Never mind the ‘assets’ that are out of commission, dry-docked or in a state of terminal disrepair, which number around 16, we have only 2 seagoing vessels – the Protea, a hydrographic survey ship; and a brand new inshore patrol vessel still undergoing sea trials. One of the older frigates might still be able to mess about in False Bay, but would probably not be able to make it to Durban.
We shouldn’t worry about joint manoeuvres with the Russian Navy because knowing how incompetent and delicate our sailors are they will first muck up any joint manoeuvres through their inability to do the most basic things correctly and then complain about said manoeuvres impinging on their dignity. If there’s one thing you can always rely on in SA and that the local military personnel demonstrating their delicacy and their ineptitude, it’s core to the SA military’s ethos.
Quite honestly neither Europe or America need South Africa so we are not a big deal to them. Unfortunately South Africa cannot say the same of them. Instead though, we seem to more and more reliant on Russia and China, two communist regimes with atrocious human rights track records. What this will mean to South Africa and its citizens further into the future is something that I shudder to contemplate. Zuma was clearly dealing with Russia long ago and now his mistakes are coming home to roost. These navy exercises are nothing compared with what’s coming.
What goes through the minds of our ANC politicians when they look at a photograph of a Ukrainian civilian appartement block destroyed by the Russian military? Is this behaviour to condone? Or even to turn a blind eye to?
Will SA be resorting to the other favourite pastime of this Russian regime of extra judicial killings of political opponents? Are we already there?
Or will our politicians and grandees also soon be sailing the seas on $500 million yachts?
In terms of the populations of Russia and SA, are their interests served by such behaviours? The Russian people are fed propaganda by the government regime, in SA we still have the benefit of a free press and can see the arguments of all sides. We can still vote accordingly. It remains to be seen if we will.
The behaviours of the ANC may influence voters, but a fragmented and unappealing opposition seems to be our biggest hurdle to change.
Spot on Mr AG
South Africa will be doing Ukraine a huge favour by hosting and participating in these exercises: we’re so incompetent that the odds are we’ll ram and sink something. Hopefully Putin and his cronies, the ANC and friends, will be on board when it goes down. Count, inter alia, our Minister of Minerals and Energy amongst those cronies. We can’t do much with all this load shedding, but we can dream!😒
The SA navy will be attending with their Steam Tug, The SS Delusional, which departed Witbank dam a month ago to be in Durban in mid Feb. Unfortunately her coal was wet and she couldn’t generate enough power to enter the ocean and is currently holding in a sewerage pond near Durban. The sewerage fumes are confusing the orders from HQ which is broadcasting from their diesel sub parked on the bottom a sand bar near the Bluff. Its purpose is to deploy navy divers to help protect sailors from sharks in the ocean, however, some sharks have also been found on board after the chief engineer opened the windows for fresh air. Communications ceased because the moer-se-code cables were stolen and the SS Wet Coal is now rudderless in its cesspit.
A wise man, that Confucious 🙂
Sounds about right 😂
What an embarrassment this “Ruling” party is – they obviously have no shame or any other meaningful cerebral quality’s
ANC= Putin’s lapdog
This is critical for South Africa – an invasion of our former colony and now neighbor (i.e. Namibia) is obviously planned and we must learn how to lose a flagship.
“As the invasion progressed, it has included massive, deadly attacks on civilian Ukrainian settlements — apartment blocks, schools, hospitals and other such facilities, along with the country’s transportation, water and energy infrastructure.”
In SA we have the same trouble, without even being invaded.
If I may add, our power grid is in a worse state, and we can’t even blame the Russians and their Iranian drones.
Great article, Brooks. The comments below are on the ball. One thing I have thought about for some time is this…. I believe the Russians or the Chinese have their eyes on the use of the Simon’s Town
Naval dockyard. Maybe not Russia or China, but both Russia and China!
David Mabusa many visits to Russia, Thandi Modise’ visit to Russia, The ANC Youth League fact finding trip to the Russian war zone, The Russian ship Lady R docking in Simons Town, Sergey’s visit to Pretoria next week, Joint naval exercise’s off SA East Coast, and Naledi Pandor’s emphasis on her governments ‘neutrality’ – Connect the dots…..
The SANDF DAY is on 21 Feb and will be held in Richards Bay. These foreigners will be hosted as honoured guests on that day. I just wonder what language will be used during the exercises. Neither the Ruskies or Chinese speak fluent English and then there is the problem of operating doctrines and procedures which we do not share. The only SAN asset that will probably be thre is the new IPV for which the operating profile and procedures are still being developed as the first of class ship.
A lot of the argument assumes that a unanimous decision was made to sanction Russia and the rest of the world, including South Africa, must abide by this. Looking away from gunboat diplomacy, Theodore Roosevelt and the Tsushima Strait, the message is clear. The South African government must toe the line and follow the lead, otherwise there will be negative consequences. The days of dictating policy to others is over. The recent meeting of African leaders in the USA is an example of such failure. This failure is also seen in the EU, where there are clear signs of regret for surrendering their independence as their economies sink and the outcry from citizens grows louder. The whole discussion around Ukraine should remain objective and not be steered starboard side.
Spot on. Where’s the legislation to punish Africa? Why the sudden interest in shithole Africa?
You know those small little weasely dogs that bite at everyone’s heels, but the moment you stop to face it, it rolls over on it’s back and wees all over the place? Yes, well that’s the ruling party for you.
This is an article by a de..l from the worse murderers part of the world in history and continue do so. Their murderers Hegemony is coming to an end and now they want to tell their victims about morality and dangers coming to them,which is nothing but a disguised threat. They are losing control and influence all over the world. The world doesn’t take their vain threat seriously. They come up with lies, like international condemnation of Russia on the war in Ukraine. A new world order is unstoppable. China’s silent army came in( Europe n USA) unnoticed and the rest is history, they can’t sanction China without seriously harming themselves. Colonial trade is coming to an end. They fly into Africa airports, drive on roads, stay in hotels and conferences build by Chinese. Finally Africa can decide who gets its resources and @ what price. Ukraine is chickens coming home to roost. What goes around comes around. The faces are the same.
Do you have any idea what you are talking about? This post is so confused and all over the place you are not conveying your point (if you have one) at all.
Sorry Nostradamus, wrong again. Request a rewrite?
So, Matsobabane, in your world view, anything from the West is of the devil, and colonialism (economic) by a dictatorship is to be welcomed. And blatant, unprovoked destruction of life, limb and public infrastructure in a neighbouring country is acceptable. What place do human rights play in your world view? How do you support your word view through a process of logical deduction?
I’m interested to see what assets our navy has that are still seaworthy.
The US government will remember this and act on it at an appropriate time.
Just another pig headed decision by our lords and masters!
Where are the human rights ethics, and the belief in freedom and equality for all?
The ANC will allow Russia or China to colonise us once again as long as their pockets are full.
The question is how the SA government gets to always make such poor decisions? Hand-fed for decades by communist imperialists? Primitive culture overshadowing rational thought? Bombastic entitlement? The fast-tracking of authority without the years required to learn from the process? All of the above, actually. Old men, locked into the past and unaware of the irrelevance and inaccuracy of their thinking, surrounded by their “tribe”, they imagine their sole preoccupation to be remaining in power because it is their “time to eat on behalf of everyone else”. When their faces grace our TV screens, how do they do not feel the scorn, derision and contempt of every South African, I wonder?
Now this is REALLY concerning. Have Ramaphosa and his government completely taken leave of their senses? If there is one force that we should be shielded AGAINST, it is imperialist Russia. And the more cosy we become with them, the more difficult it will be to divorce ourselves from them. That is probably the difference between Russia and the west – the west does not want to enslave other countries. But Russia does, as it has shown in Ukraine.
I honestly don’t think this will have the support of the SA people. The ANC is now REALLY going down the drain.
To every one of our SA Government ministers who have sanctioned this scandal, or who have failed to condemn it – hang your heads in shame. That you/we have refused to show support for Ukraine in the defence of their country and of democracy against Russia is bad enough.
It’s not too late. Pull back and keep our naval ‘fleet !!’ in port. Invest the precious funds thus saved in our broken domestic services and in the needy people who suffer most.
Who’s the ANC’s daddy?
I cannot believe that people that run a country are so obtuse and so desperately short of intellect wisdom, morals and intellect.
The Genie is out of the bottle. Our goverment,well the ANC and EFF part of it are on Russia’s side. Period ! But we do not trade with Russia, we trade with The West and China.
The ANC are despicable , dumb and corrupt cowards.