During the last week of February, the navies of Russia, China, and South Africa conducted maritime exercises in the Indian Ocean off the port of Durban. The exercise, named Exercise Mosi-2, was the second such instance when the navies of Russia, China, and South Africa came together in the Indian Ocean. Previously, in November 2019, the three countries had conducted naval exercises off the coast of Cape Town (South Africa).
That is the opening of a report from https://www.geopoliticalmonitor.com/ It echoes reports from other media such as the i and other newspapers. It is a worrying thought that the parties intend to make them a regular event. Worrying, because the South African polity is fragile at present. Electricity generation has been in trouble for years and hit a new low last year, due to historic mismanagement and corruption. Corruption has affected other parts of the economy and on top of it all came the Covid-19 pandemic, which South Africa was ill-equipped to deal with. She is therefore vulnerable to approaches from China, which has been grooming other African states for years, and from Russia which has just started to take a similar interest, though an occasionally more violent one, in Africa.
Given the close ties between the UK and South Africa (a Commonwealth country, one should remember), MPs seem remarkably relaxed about the situation. There has been no question to the FCO about it so far as I can tell, let alone a request for an urgent statement from the Department. I can recall that we used to have a defence interest in South Africa such that we tolerated the apartheid regime for the sake of a naval base at Simonstown. Will any MP raise the subject at the next Foreign Questions?
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