SACP, MK Party to protest against Ukraine President Zelensky's visit to SA

JOHANNESBURG - The South African Communist Party (SACP) and uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party have announced they will be staging pickets in Pretoria on Thursday to protest the visit of Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The head of state is due to arrive in Pretoria on Thursday on an official working visit to South Africa.

Zelensky is expected to engage President Cyril Ramaphosa on a number of bilateral issues, including the African peace mission aimed at resolving the conflict between Ukraine and Russia.

Both the SACP and the MK Party have characterised Zelensky as a puppet of the West.

SACP spokesperson, Alex Mashilo, described Zelensky as a mini dictator using his country’s conflict with Russia to cling to power.  

"Zelensky's term as president of Ukraine has expired. No new elections have taken place in Ukraine, unlike in Russia, rendering his status illegitimate."

Secretary-general for the MK Party, Floyd Shivambu, said that Zelensky’s visit goes against the country’s non-aligned stance on the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

"And we will stage a protest against the visit of Zelensky to South Africa and we would not want him to come because he has been a puppet to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)-led militarism which sought to destabilise eastern Europe and the entire world through an unjust and unfair expansion."

As part of his activities on Thursday, Zelensky is also expected to brief the South African media on developments in his country.