Naledi Pandor - The African Mirror

Jan

2024

“Progressive forces around the world to need practical programmes of support for the people of Cuba”

SINCE 1994, South Africa has been resolute in its support for Cuba and has led the charge in international fora for the USA to bring an end to the illegal and unjust economic blockade against that island nation. The blockade is in its 62nd year now and appears unending despite our solidarity action. South Africa has consistently voted in favour of the annual United Nations resolution calling for the end of the economic, commercial, and financial embargo imposed by the United States. South Africa also campaigned for the release of the Cuban Five, and called on the US government to…

Nov

2023

By CARIEN DU PLESSIS and BHARGAV ACHARYA

South Africa recalls diplomats from Israel to assess its position

NEWS

SOUTH Africa is recalling diplomats from Israel to assess its relationship with the country amid a rise in civilian casualties from its war with the Palestinian militant group Hamas, its foreign minister said. South Africa has long been an advocate for peace in the Middle East and has rallied behind Palestinians, likening their plight to its own under an apartheid regime that ended in 1994. Calling the return of diplomats a "normal practice", Naledi Pandor said the recall was to determine "whether there is any potential for you to be of assistance and whether the continued relationship is actually able…

Oct

2023

By The African Mirror

South Africa says it discussed aid with Hamas leader, denies reports of support

NEWS

SOUTH Africa said that its foreign minister held a call with the leader of Hamas about getting aid into Gaza and other Palestinian territories and denied a report of offering support to the militant group in its conflict against Israel. South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor received a request to call Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, the government's Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) said in a statement, adding that the call was in line with the country's readiness to engage with all parties in facilitating dialogue. Local publication News24 earlier reported a statement from Hamas that the group had…

Jun

2023

By WENDELL ROELF

BRICS ministers put on show of strength as Putin arrest warrant looms large

NEWS

BRICS foreign ministers asserted their bloc's ambition to rival Western powers but their talks in South Africa were overshadowed by questions over whether Russia's president would be arrested if he attended a summit in August. South Africa's foreign minister Naledi Pandor said her country was mulling options if Vladimir Putin, the subject of a war crimes arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC), came to the planned BRICS summit in Johannesburg. As a member of the ICC, South Africa would theoretically be required to arrest Putin, and Pandor was bombarded with questions about that as she arrived for…

May

2023

By The African Mirror

South African diamonds adorn the crown of King Charles – why they’re unlikely to be returned

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

OPERA singer Pretty Yende and foreign minister Naledi Pandor were not the only South African presence at the coronation of King Charles III. Also, there were the stones cut from the Cullinan diamond, the largest gem-quality rough diamond ever found. The Cullinan, named after Thomas Cullinan, the chairman of the mining company that found it in South Africa, was mined in 1905 and was bought by the Transvaal colony’s government for presentation to King Edward VII in 1907. It was cut into nine stones and another 97 fragments. Author ROGER SOUTHALL, Professor of Sociology, University of the Witwatersrand The largest…

May

2023

By KOPANO GUMBI and WENDELL ROELF

South Africa rejects U.S. accusations of arms shipment to Russia

NEWS

SOUTH African officials hit back at U.S. accusations that a sanctioned Russian ship had collected weapons from a naval base near Cape Town late last year, a move investors fear could lead Washington to impose sanctions. The U.S. ambassador to South Africa said on Thursday he was confident that a Russian ship uploaded weapons from the Simon's Town base in December, suggesting the incident was not in line with Pretoria's stance of neutrality in the Ukraine conflict. Western diplomats were alarmed at South Africa carrying out naval exercises with Russia and China this year and at the timing of a visit by Russian Foreign…

Jan

2023

By The African Mirror

$77-millin tax dispute: SA calls on MTN, Ghana to resolve

BUSINESS

SOUTH Africa's foreign minister Naledi Pandor called on mobile operator MTN Group and the Ghana Revenue Authority to find a solution to a $773 million tax dispute. Earlier this month MTN said the Ghana Revenue Authority issued the company's subsidiary MTN Ghana with a bill for back taxes after auditing it for the years 2014 to 2018 and inferring that it had under-declared its revenue by about 30% during the period. MTN, which has a presence in 19 countries in Africa and the Middle East, said at the time that it disputed the "accuracy and basis" of the assessment and that it would fight…

Jan

2023

By The African Mirror

SA defends military exercise with Russia

NEWS

CARIEN DU PLESSIS SOUTH Africa's foreign minister deflected criticism of joint military drills planned with Russia and China, saying that hosting such exercises with "friends" was the "natural course of relations". Naledi Pandor made her comments during a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who was visiting South Africa 11 months after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. A South African official, who declined to be named because they were not authorised to speak, said Lavrov would afterwards visit Eswatini, Botswana and Angola. South Africa is one of Russia's most important allies on a continent divided over the invasion and Western attempts to…