The President of South Africa has created a commission to investigate possible arms supplies to Russia.

The commission was created amid accusations by the United States about such possible supplies of weapons.

Ramaphosa appointed a three-person independent commission to investigate the December 2022 docking of the Russian Lady R vessel in Simonstown.

Through this investigation, the South African government seeks to establish the circumstances that led to the mooring of the vessel, the possible loading of weapons, and the departure of the Lady R vessel from Simonstown between December 6 and 9, 2022.

“The President decided to open an investigation because of the seriousness of the allegations, the degree of public interest, and the impact of the matter on South Africa’s international relations,” the statement said.

In addition, the commission will assess whether constitutional, legal, and other obligations have been met with respect to this cargo ship.

The commission will report directly to the South African President and is given six weeks to investigate, with additional two weeks to write a report for Ramaphosa.

Reuben Brigety, US Ambassador to South Africa, stated in May of this year that South Africa transferred its weapons and ammunition to Russia, in particular, in December 2022.

According to the Ambassador, in December, the weapons were transferred via a cargo ship, which was secretly stationed at the Simonstown naval base near Cape Town for three days.

Brigety noted that South Africa probably shared “extremely serious” weapons with Russia, which calls into question the neutral position of this state.

This state declares its neutral position regarding the Russian-Ukrainian war.

Despite this, as noted by the National Institute for Strategic Studies, South Africa made several statements criticizing the supply of Western weapons to Ukraine.