The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) announced on Thursday that it would go ahead with a joint maritime exercise with Russia and China next month, despite growing opposition inside and outside South Africa.

The SANDF said it would host the People’s Liberation Army Navy and Russian Federal Navy for Exercise Mosi 2 in Durban and Richards Bay from 17 to 27 February, “as a means to strengthen the already flourishing relations between SA, Russia and China”. It noted that Russia would be the lead nation in the exercise.

It has not escaped international or domestic attention that Exercise Mosi 2 will be taking place while the world observes the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on 24 February. 

This underscores the criticism that it is at least insensitive for South Africa to be conducting military drills with Russia at a time when it is massively bombarding its much smaller neighbour, apparently aimed at undermining Ukraine’s will to fight by destroying civilian infrastructure such as its electricity grid during winter.

Military analysts believe the main Russian vessel that will take part in Exercise Mosi 2 is the guided missile frigate Admiral Gorshkov, accompanied by its oiler, Kama. They say that although the Admiral Gorschkov is not known to have participated in attacks on Ukraine, similar ships in the Black Sea have fired fusillades of cruise missiles that have destroyed power stations and other infrastructure and killed hundreds of civilians.

“Is that the sort of military operation South Africa hopes to learn from?” one Western military analyst asked.

The Royal Navy recently shadowed the Admiral Gorshkov as it sailed south through the North Sea. Military analysts believe it is armed with Zircon hypersonic guided missiles, supposedly capable of evading even the most advanced Nato defences, and so Russian President Vladimir Putin is sending it abroad at this time to project power, all the way from the Atlantic, through the Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean.

The Smoke that Blunders — Russia, China and SA navy exercise is immoral, stupid and impractical

Compared with that — and the three ships China is expected to send — the South African Navy’s contribution to Exercise Mosi 2 seems likely to be rather notional. 

Military experts say it originally intended to contribute a frigate and a submarine but will probably be unable to do so.

“Early indications are that the South African Navy, crippled by severe cuts to its maintenance and refit budget in recent years, may only be able to provide two ships: the SAS King Sekhukhune I, an IPV [inshore patrol vessel], and the SAS Protea, a survey ship,” Darren Olivier, director at the African Defence Review, told Daily Maverick. 

A Russian Navy sailor passes missile tubes aboard the Parchim class corvette Kalmykia MPK 229 Baltic Fleet warship on Russian Navy Day at the Vistula lagoon in Baltiysk on 31 July 2016. (Photo: Andrey Rudakov / Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“Neither is a warship in a meaningful sense, unlike the Russian and Chinese ships most likely to be taking part. The IPV is armed only with 20mm Super Sea Rogue guns for close-in protection, and the Protea similarly has only 12.7mm and 20mm guns.

“The SAS King Sekhukhune I is not even fully operational yet, as it’s still in its operational test and evaluation phase, and it’s arguable that taking part in exercises before that’s completed is a distraction.

“Given what the SA Navy is able to bring into this exercise, it’s a fair question to ask whether it’s worth holding it now and whether the benefit outweighs the cost and controversy.”

DA defence spokesperson Kobus Marais agrees, dismissing the war games as “nothing more than an expensive publicity stunt”.

“Currently, most if not all of the South African Navy vessels are not serviceable and our maritime patrols and reconnaissance obligations are not fulfilled as required by our Constitution,” he said. 

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“We hardly have enough resources to comply with the basic SA naval requirements and obligations to protect the nation’s integrity and secure the safety of our people. To waste money on this fruitless exercise is irrational, irresponsible and unacceptable. There can be little if any real benefit for the SANDF, given the enormous resource constraints it has to deal with on a daily basis.

“Our first priorities must be to do the essential maintenance and upgrades to our naval vessels and once we can afford and benefit significantly from an international exercise, it must then be considered. This will be bad value for our taxpayers’ money.”

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Marais added that it was “an awkward time” to be holding an exercise with Russia while it was devastating civilian targets in Ukraine. 

“While our government has claimed to be neutral, this is just another of many incidents where the ANC has clearly exposed their favouritism towards Russia.

“As the clear dominant partner in Exercise Mosi 2, it is obvious that the value for Russia is to showcase its geopolitical influence in southern Africa as part of their global war games against Nato and the USA.”

Marais vowed that the DA would continue to strongly oppose “this silly exercise”.

The SANDF noted that this would be the second such exercise, as the first Exercise Mosi had taken place among the same three nations in November 2019 off Cape Town. 

Exercise coordinators had concluded all necessary coordination and preparation arrangements for the exercise during virtual planning conferences held at the start of December last year. 

More than 350 SANDF personnel from various arms services and divisions would participate in Exercise Mosi 2 “with the aim of sharing operational skills and knowledge”. DM