{"id":241319,"date":"2024-10-29T11:30:41","date_gmt":"2024-10-29T11:30:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/10\/29\/south-africa-government-split-over-ukraine-visa-deal\/"},"modified":"2024-10-29T11:30:41","modified_gmt":"2024-10-29T11:30:41","slug":"south-africa-government-split-over-ukraine-visa-deal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/10\/29\/south-africa-government-split-over-ukraine-visa-deal\/","title":{"rendered":"South Africa government split over Ukraine visa deal"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"article-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.ghanaweb.com\/imagelib\/pics\/883\/88385816.295.jpg\" alt=\"South Africa's Foreign Affairs Minister Ronald Lamola hosted his Ukrainian counterpart Andrii Sybiha\" title=\"South Africa's Foreign Affairs Minister Ronald Lamola hosted his Ukrainian counterpart Andrii Sybiha\" width=\"295\" height=\"155\" \/> <span class=\"image_caption\"><span>South Africa&#8217;s Foreign Affairs Minister Ronald Lamola hosted his Ukrainian counterpart Andrii Sybiha<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"-webkit-user-select: none; -webkit-touch-callout: none; -moz-user-select: none; -ms-user-select: none; user-select: none;\">\n<p id=\"article-123\">A controversial agreement to grant Ukrainian diplomats visa-free access to South Africa has sparked outrage within political circles.<\/p>\n<p>South Africa&#8217;s Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber, who is from a different party to the president, announced the deal on Sunday, terming Ukraine a &#8220;valued ally&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>But the presidency has criticised Schreiber for announcing the agreement without formal authorisation from President Cyril Ramaphosa.<\/p>\n<p>Critics see the deal as an affront to South Africa&#8217;s long-standing relationship with Russia &#8211; though the country has remained neutral on the conflict in Ukraine.<\/p>\n<p>The African National Congress (ANC) has sharply differed with the Democratic Alliance (DA), its largest coalition partner, over the country\u2019s relationship with Russia.<\/p>\n<p>The ANC, which has governed South Africa since the end of apartheid three decades ago, lost its majority in May&#8217;s general election, forcing it into a deal with other political parties.<\/p>\n<p>*How Putin has given South Africa a big diplomatic headache<\/p>\n<p>*Why Russia&#8217;s invasion of Ukraine still divides Africa<\/p>\n<p>Recently, Ramaphosa angered the DA by calling Russia a &#8220;valued friend&#8221; during the Brics summit in Kazan. The DA has previously criticised Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I have signed an historic agreement granting visa-free access to our country for Ukrainian holders of diplomatic, official and service passports &#8211; and vice versa,&#8221; Schreiber posted on X.<\/p>\n<p>The minister defended the decision, highlighting Ukraine\u2019s support of South Africa during its struggle against apartheid.<\/p>\n<p>But the presidency hit back and said that Schreiber&#8217;s announcement was premature since he had no authorisation from the president.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is unclear how the minister can announce the signature of an international agreement without prior formal authorisation to do so,\u201d Ramaphosa\u2019s spokesperson Vincent Magwenya responded on X.<\/p>\n<p>On Monday, International Relations Minister Ronald Lamola hosted his Ukrainian counterpart Andrii Sybiha and said the agreement is yet to be concluded and signed.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Once all the diplomatic processes have been concluded, the agreement will be signed and we will announce once all those processes have been followed,&#8221; Lamola added.<\/p>\n<p>The spokesperson for the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) , which is not part of the coalition government, Leigh-Ann Mathys, condemned the deal as a \u201cbetrayal\u201d of South Africa&#8217;s solidarity with Russia.<\/p>\n<p>Former President Jacob Zuma&#8217;s fledgling opposition party &#8211; uMhkonto weSizwe (MK) has also urged Ramaphosa not to sign the agreement.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe agreement with Ukraine is aimed at facilitating an influx and quasi-evacuation of defeated right-wing Ukrainians to South Africa by the racist pro-white imperialist DA,\u201d MK party spokesperson Nhlamulo Ndhlela told local media.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>South Africa&#8217;s Foreign Affairs Minister Ronald Lamola hosted his Ukrainian counterpart Andrii Sybiha A controversial agreement to grant Ukrainian diplomats visa-free access to South Africa has sparked outrage within political circles. South Africa&#8217;s Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber, who is from a different party to the president, announced the deal on Sunday, terming Ukraine a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":241320,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-241319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-africa"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>South Africa government split over Ukraine visa deal - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/10\/29\/south-africa-government-split-over-ukraine-visa-deal\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"South Africa government split over Ukraine visa deal - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"South Africa&#8217;s Foreign Affairs Minister Ronald Lamola hosted his Ukrainian counterpart Andrii Sybiha A controversial agreement to grant Ukrainian diplomats visa-free access to South Africa has sparked outrage within political circles. 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