South Africa, Poland working to resolve row over presidential bodyguards blocked from leaving plane

JOHANNESBURG 

After South African bodyguards protecting a delegation on its way to Ukraine were denied permission to disembark in Poland, South African officials are working with Poland to resolve the impasse, the officials said Friday.

Officials at Warsaw Chopin Airport refused to let Presidential Protection Services and journalists disembark from a plane, said presidential spokesman Vincent Magwenya, adding that President Cyril Ramaphosa’s safety has not been compromised.

“We acknowledge the regrettable nature of the incident. Our officials are engaging with their Polish counterparts to resolve the impasse so that the PPS (presidential security) team and the media can proceed with the journey,” Magwenya said.

According to state broadcaster SABC, a chartered South African Airways plane carrying over a hundred security personnel with heavy weaponry was prevented from entering Poland without showing original permits for the weapons.

Major Gen. Wally Rhoode, Ramaphosa’s head of security, said refusing entry to the security team indicates the Polish government is sabotaging Ramaphosa’s safety as he will enter Kyiv with minimal security.

Rhoode claimed that despite having permits, they were refused entry. One South African diplomatic passport holder was also reportedly strip searched.

Magwenya said “they are deeply disturbed by the experience that the South African team went through.”

A delegation of African leaders and government representatives arrived in Ukraine Friday on a peace mission aimed at persuading Russia and Ukraine to start a dialogue to end the 16-month-long conflict.

In addition to Ramaphosa, the seven-nation peace mission includes Comoros President Azali Assoumani, Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema, and Senegalese President Macky Sall. The presidents of Egypt, Republic of the Congo, and Uganda sent representatives.

Ramaphosa was welcomed by Maksym Subhk, Ukraine's special envoy for Africa and the Middle East, at Nemishaeve Railway Station in Ukraine.

Reports said the leaders’ visit to Kyiv was interrupted by air raid sirens and explosions.

They are expected to hold talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv before traveling to Saint Petersburg on Saturday to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin.

African leaders arrived in Poland late Thursday, where they were received by Polish President Kancelaria Prezvdenta, who presented his country’s perspective on the conflict.