He said seeing the destruction of the towns on the outskirts of the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, was heartbreaking.<\/p>\n
Steenhuisen said besides showing Ukraine\u2019s citizens that there are South Africans who care, he also went there to build networks, which could help him make informed decisions.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo put it in perspective, one out of every three slices of bread in Africa and the Middle East comes from grain in this region,” Steenhuisen said. “Cooking oil, they\u2019re the number one producers of cooking oil and fertilizers, which are essential to growing of crops in our own country. There\u2019s been a 300% increase in fertilizer costs in South Africa, which is going to have a huge impact on domestic food security as well. And that\u2019s obviously also tied in with rising fuel prices as a result of the instability in the region.\u201d<\/p>\n
The leader of the Democratic Alliance said Africa is particularly vulnerable because of the high levels of poverty.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are 30 million South Africans who live below the poverty line,” Steenhuisen said. “And that\u2019s obviously exacerbated by an almost 50% unemployment rate.\u201d<\/p>\n
Not everyone was pleased with Steenhuisen\u2019s visit. Critics said he seemed more interested in far-off conflicts than those happening in South Africa and the rest of the continent.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, I would say that those criticisms are frankly a little bit childish,” Steenhuisen said. “Firstly, I have been to conflicts in Africa. I spent some time in Somaliland. I\u2019ve been to Mozambique.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ukraine\u2019s ambassador to South Africa, Liubov Abravitova, welcomed Steenhuisen\u2019s visit.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it is important from Ukrainian point of view to receive a message that some South African people are supporting Ukraine,” Abravitova said. “It will also give some impetus to other political parties not only in South Africa but in Africa in general to have dialogue with Ukraine.\u201d<\/p>\n
When asked whether she would like to see South Africa\u2019s president, Cyril Ramaphosa, visit, she said, \u201cOf course, yes.\u201d She added that, during a recent telephone conversation with her president, President Ramaphosa said he would visit.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I believe this visit will happen as soon as the security situation allows,\u201d Abravitova said.<\/p>\n
South Africa\u2019s Department of International Relations said it was not commenting on Steenhuisen\u2019s visit to Ukraine at this time.<\/p>\n
Questions sent to the spokesperson for the ruling African National Congress, Pule Mabe, about Steenhuisen\u2019s allegations that the ANC-led government is not neutral but siding with Russia, were not answered. Neither were several phone calls to Mabe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
While South Africa\u2019s African National Congress-led government has refused to condemn Russia\u2019s war on Ukraine \u2014 preferring to take a neutral stance and calling for mediation \u2014 the Democratic Alliance Party\u2019s John Steenhuisen isn\u2019t mincing his words.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12963,"featured_media":7448,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,15],"tags":[7,26,25],"class_list":{"0":"post-7451","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"category-politics","9":"tag-apie-project","10":"tag-news","11":"tag-politics"},"yoast_head":"\n