Lady R probe takes odd turn

If President Cyril Ramaphosa had hoped the three-person panel named to probe possible underhand arms dealings with Russia would exonerate the government in a matter of vital importance to SA’s future, he has gone about it in an odd way.

By appointing ANC veteran and former deputy minister of education Enver Surty to the panel, Ramaphosa has given his critics ammunition to argue that his inclusion potentially compromises the credibility of the probe.

The DA is going to court under the Promotion of Access to Information Act to establish the circumstances of the decision and whether the ANC’s deployment committee had a hand. There are certainly grounds for second-guessing the president in this case.

The matter is especially important in that the outcome is meant to lay to rest suspicions, voiced by US ambassador Reuben Brigety, that weapons destined for Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine were loaded onto the Lady R at Simon’s Town Naval Base last December.

This is not the first time that Ramaphosa has made appointments that hardly pass the standard of impartiality, and being seen to be impartial, that public affairs should demand.

Surty proved himself a competent minister. However, his long history with the ANC, whose murky ties with Russia are now the subject of speculation, should disqualify him.