If South Africa’s nuclear deal with Russia had not been capsized by a court challenge, it would have been the biggest procurement deal signed in the democratic era. A new book by journalist Karyn Maughan and researcher Kirsten Pearson reminds the country how close it came to probable economic ruin – and joins the dots on Pretoria’s current loyalty to Moscow.
associate editor Qaanitah Hunter pointed out in a virtual launch of the book on Thursday, there has never been a better time to probe “the hold [Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin has over the ANC”.
“Zuma signs off on the Rosatom [nuclear deal with Russia] agreement 17 days after he goes to Russia in apparent desperation for lifesaving treatment,” Maughan said. But the appeal of the project for the Kremlin was apparent in other respects: it “would become the blueprint for Russia to do nuclear deals in other African countries”, suggests Maughan, and it would also have locked South Africa into economic and energy dependency on Russia for decades. The idea was that South Africa would in effect rely on Russia to supply 23% of our energy mix.
The Guptas also probably had a role to play. Hunter pointed out that the Guptas were suspiciously well-placed to benefit from the nuclear deal after purchasing Shiva Uranium in 2010. Opportunities for Gupta enrichment would have come not just from uranium but from providing associated services, like consulting on the nuclear build, transporting uranium and so forth.
Nevertheless, believes Maughan, it is this exact paranoia that has essentially shaped South Africa’s current geopolitical stance, with Zuma seeing Putin and the Kremlin as offering salvation from the direct personal threat the former president felt himself under from the West.
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