Des navires russes, chinois et iraniens dans les eaux de l'Afrique du Sud pour un exercice militaire
A Russian warship joined Chinese and Iranian ships in South African waters on Friday, AFP journalists observed, for a BRICS+ military exercise that risks once again provoking Washington's anger towards Pretoria, a recurring target of its criticism.
These maneuvers, conducted with adversaries of the United States at a time when relations between the two countries are at their lowest point, are scheduled to last until January 16. According to the South African military, they are "joint actions to ensure the security of maritime transport."
"This has absolutely nothing to do with Venezuela," a spokesman for the South African Ministry of Defense told AFP, dismissing any link with the seizures of ships off the coast of Venezuela that Washington had begun in December before kidnapping Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro during a military operation in Caracas.
"This exercise had been in preparation since 2025 and was postponed due to the G20 summit which was being held at the same time" in Johannesburg, the spokesperson added. This attempt at appeasement had no effect on the United States, which had boycotted this first summit of the group of twenty held in Africa.
The BRICS+ bloc of emerging countries has been accused by Donald Trump of pursuing "anti-American" policies.
The ongoing exercise, dubbed "Will for Peace", is being conducted by China, the adversary designated by the United States.
"Washington has had Pretoria in its sights since the beginning of the current Trump administration," Priyal Singh, a researcher at the Institute for Security Studies in Pretoria, told AFP. "The image conveyed by the upcoming naval exercises will likely be used by policymakers in Washington as a perfect example of why bilateral relations with South Africa need to be reviewed," he added.
The United Arab Emirates should also send ships, South African Deputy Defense Minister Bantu Holomisa told the Newzroom Afrika television channel on Thursday.
- new ambassador -
Other BRICS+ countries, such as Indonesia, Ethiopia, and Brazil, will send observers, he added. The other members of the group are India, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia.
The center-right Democratic Alliance (DA) party, an ally of President Cyril Ramaphosa's ANC in the governing coalition in South Africa, denounced "military exercises which contradict (the) neutrality and damage (the) international reputation" of Pretoria.
In addition to an alleged "persecution" of the Afrikaners - the descendants of the first European settlers - the American administration has repeatedly criticized Pretoria for its "genocide" complaint, filed before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), against Israel for its war in Gaza.
In addition, Washington expelled the South African ambassador to the United States and imposed tariffs of 30% on South African products affected by its customs duties, the highest among sub-Saharan African countries.
The next turbulent episode in the relationship between the two countries could come from the identity of the new US ambassador appointed to Pretoria, Leo Brent Bozell III, who "has been sworn in," the US embassy announced Friday.
During Nelson Mandela's tour of the United States after his release in 1990, the media criticism organization he founded was troubled that the figure of the struggle against apartheid in South Africa was "never described as a saboteur or a terrorist".
"At that time, the ANC and Nelson Mandela were aligned with the Soviets," Leo Brent Bozell III justified in October during his hearing before a Senate committee, asserting that Mandela was now "the person in South Africa for whom (he has) the most respect."
His nomination was confirmed by the Senate in mid-December.
Commentaires (5)
Que des maneouvres réék, pendant que les USA tapent fort.
Je pense qu il est temps de faire comme le fou Trump: s il tape, que les autres fassent comme lui.
Comme ce monde est vieux, ces fous veulent en finir, donc allez-y.
Au lieu de faire des maneouvres inutiles, il faut faire comme les UAS.
Chine, Coré du Nord et Russie ne sont pas des alliées fiables. On a vu comme ces trpays infidèles ont fait devant Iran, la Syrie, le Vénézuela.
Il ne faut pas compter sur ces 3 pays inutiles.
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