BRICS warships dock in Cape Town as SA risks fresh US backlash

Key topics.China leads BRICS naval drill with Russian and Iranian vessels presentExercise revives US anger over SA’s neutrality and Iran tiesDA warns drill undermines non-alignment and global credibility.Sign up for your early morning brew of the BizNews Insider to keep you up to speed with the content that matters. The newsletter will land in your inbox at 5:30am weekdays. Register here.Support South Africa’s bastion of independent journalism, offering balanced insights on investments, business, and the political economy, by joining BizNews Premium. Register here.If you prefer WhatsApp for updates, sign up to the BizNews channel here..By Paul Vecchiatto and Mike Cohen.Warships from some members of the BRICS group of developing nations gathered in Cape Town waters for a naval exercise that places host South Africa at risk of renewed US ire.China will lead the Will for Peace 2026 drill, which runs from Jan. 9 to Jan. 16 and will showcase the participants’ collective commitment to safeguard maritime trade routes “and deepen cooperation in support of peaceful maritime security,” the South African National Defence Force said in a statement. It didn’t specify which other countries will be participating, with a media conference scheduled for Friday.A Chinese destroyer docked in the Simon’s Town naval base on Wednesday, while pictures on social media this week showed a Russian frigate and a supply vessel making their way down Africa’s west coast toward the harbor. The IRIS Makran, a massive Iranian forward base ship that serves as a floating logistics hub and operational command center, was sighted near Simon’s Town on Thursday afternoon. South Africa has been at loggerheads with the US since President Donald Trump returned to the White House almost a year ago. Its ties to Iran are among the issues that have elicited anger in Washington and the drill is likely to ignite further tension. .Pretoria drew criticism from the US and the European Union when it last hosted a BRICS naval exercise in 2023 that coincided with the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The Democratic Alliance, South Africa’s second-biggest political party, said the inclusion of Russia and Iran in the drill would undermine the government’s claims that it was non-aligned, and noted that it had canceled joint military exercises with the US.“South Africa’s defence and foreign policy must be transparent, constitutional, and principled, and certainly not be quietly reshaped through military exercises that contradict our stated neutrality and damage our standing in the world,” said Chris Hattingh, the DA’s spokesperson on defense. Chrispin Phiri, a spokesman for South Africa’s foreign ministry, declined to comment and referred queries to the defense force. .© 2026 Bloomberg L.P.

BRICS warships dock in Cape Town as SA risks fresh US backlash

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