Flash Briefing: Ramaphosa weighs in on Russian invasion, SA’s stance; SAA/Takatso deal still grounded

by

  • President Cyril Ramaphosa has weighed in on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, calling for the dispute to be settled through mediation rather than the ‘barrel of the gun’. Writing in his weekly open letter to the public, the president said that negotiation, dialogue and compromise may seem ‘out of touch’ – and even ‘fanciful’ – but that South Africa had attained democracy through a negotiated settlement. Even prior to the resolution being passed at the UN last week, talks between Russian and Ukrainian officials had already started, Ramaphosa said. “South Africa expected that the UN resolution would foremost welcome the commencement of dialogue between the parties and seek to create the conditions for these talks to succeed.
  • United States deputy secretary of state, Brian McKeon, says that the department left no diplomatic stone unturned when confronting the Russian invasion of Ukraine. McKeon responded to President Cyril Ramaphosa’s suggestion that if US President Joe Biden had agreed to meet with Russia’s Vladimir Putin unconditionally days before the invasion, it would have been averted. McKeon stressed that South Africa abstaining from voting at the UN General Assembly to condemn Russia was not seen by the US as endorsing the invasion. He added that the abstention would not impact US relations with South Africa.
  • SAA’s privatisation deal could stall, as transport minister Fikile Mbalula failed to appoint two crucial air permitting councils that need to approve the deal. Approval is required from the South African International Air Licensing Council and the Domestic Air Licensing Council. However, the terms of office of these councils expired in March 2021, and Mbalula failed to appoint new office bearers. Aviation experts believe that the failure to appoint the councils was a deliberate move to avoid scrutiny of SAA after it came out of business rescue in April last year. The airline resumed flying in September after 15 months on the ground. Because there was no functioning council, SAA was allowed to resume flights without scrutiny. This is especially the case where the unutilised rights of state-owned airlines like SA Express, SAA and Mango are not made available to competitors and the same competitors cannot get approval for new regional routes.

BizNews

GoHighLevel
gohighlevel gohighlevel login gohighlevel pricing gohighlevel crm gohighlevel api gohighlevel support gohighlevel review gohighlevel logo what is gohighlevel gohighlevel affiliate gohighlevel integrations gohighlevel features gohighlevel app gohighlevel reviews gohighlevel training gohighlevel snapshots gohighlevel zapier app gohighlevel gohighlevel alternatives gohighlevel pricegohighlevel pricing guidegohighlevel api gohighlevel officialgohighlevel plansgohighlevel Funnelsgohighlevel Free Trialgohighlevel SAASgohighlevel Websitesgohighlevel Experts