By Dikeledi Molobela
Warsaw, Poland: Head of the Presidential Protection Services (PPS), Major General Wally Rhoode, has expressed frustration over delays experienced by a contingent of specialised police officers and journalists who were not allowed to disembark at the Warsaw Chopin Airport on Thursday.
He described the Polish officials’ behaviour as “surprising” adding that it may harm the road to peace mission aimed at a peaceful resolution of the conflict between Ukraine and Russia.
This as President Cyril Ramaphosa is leading a delegation of African leaders in a bid to broker peace between Ukraine and Russia.
President Ramaphosa and his counterparts are, over the next few days, expected to lead the African peace mission, which will see the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, and Russia’s Vladimir Putin, sitting on the negotiation table.
President Ramaphosa previously said the aim of the mission is to hear from both leaders what it will take to bring an end to war, which broke out in February last year.
A large contingent of specialised police officers including the Presidential Protection Services and a group of journalists were not allowed to disembark the plane at the Warsaw Chopin Airport on despite being in possession of the right permits.
Rhoode told journalists that the South African government obtained all the necessary permits and have been engaging with the Polish government for two weeks.
“They say we do not have permits, however we do have permits, the embassy here made copies of the original permits because they thought it won’t be necessary to have originals.
“All of a sudden we must have originals, they are delaying us,” he said adding that Polish officials wanted to “confiscate our firearms.”
While he couldn’t divulge much about the security of President Ramaphosa in Kyiv Rhoode said “the President is being secured”.
The cargo which was offloaded from the plane upon arrival was now being loaded back onto the plane following threats of confiscation.
Earlier on Thursday, the Presidency told SAnews that there are already teams deployed on the ground that have conducted a security threat assessment and have given President Ramaphosa the green light to travel to Kyiv.
“The African Leaders Peace Mission is an unprecedented and historical moment. It's the first time that the continent has united behind an attempt towards finding a resolution to a conflict outside the African continent. It's also the first time that a group of African Heads of State and government have travelled together on a peace mission,” Presidency said.
While the Presidents of Congo Brazzaville, Egypt and Uganda sent their representatives, President Ramaphosa, along with Presidents of Zambia, Senegal and the Comoros are today meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Ukrainian in Kyiv. -SAnews.gov.za
