Russian authorities on Monday revoked Daily Maverick foreign policy specialist Peter Fabricius’ accreditation to cover the Russia-Africa Summit in St Petersburg this week.
This was after Fabricius was previously granted accreditation to travel to Russia for the second Russia-Africa Summit on 27 and 28 July. He was informed in writing that he had received accreditation for the event on Tuesday, 18 July.
However, on Monday, 24 July, Fabricius was informed that the Summit’s Organising Committee had cancelled his accreditation for the 2023 Summit. When Daily Maverick requested the Organising Committee reconsider the decision, it was told that “revision is not possible.”
Independent journalist and analyst on foreign policy issues, Peter Fabricius at The Gathering in Cape Town on 24 November 2022. (Photo: Leila Dougan)
No explanation was given for reversal. Fabricius, who attended the inaugural Russia-Africa Summit in Sochi in 2019, was scheduled to depart South Africa for Russia on Tuesday.
African leaders will this week travel to St Petersburg for the second Russia-Africa Summit which begins on Thursday.
On 21 June, the Presidency shared a media invitation for the summit in St Petersburg, requesting that media who wished to attend and cover the event apply for accreditation by 5 July.
The presidency has said that Cyril Ramaphosa will be at the summit. He will be accompanied by International Relations Minister Naledi Pandor and Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni.
In response to a request from Daily Maverick for comment about the revoking of Fabricius's accreditation, Presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said the Russia-Africa Summit is “not a South African government event, and all we did was to share the link that was provided to us. By doing so, we were not assuming any responsibility for the accreditation of South African journalists.”
The first Russia-Africa Summit in Sochi, Russia in 2019, was an attempt to strengthen relations between Russia and the continent. A second summit was expected to be held in late 2022, but was postponed due to Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine.
Read reports by Fabricius from the 2019 summit, in Daily Maverick's archives:
Russia starts a new chapter in Africa
African countries rush to sign nuclear deals with Russia
Since the Sochi Summit, Russia has shifted its focus sharply towards Africa to circumvent Western isolation following its invasion of Ukraine.
Read in Daily Maverick: Russia-Africa Summit must prioritise needs of continent while pushing for greater negotiating power
Forty-three heads of state attended the first summit. Against the backdrop of his disinvitation by Ramaphosa to attend the BRICS Summit in Johannesburg, Russian president Vladimir Putin will be trying to attract even more leaders than he did to the previous summit, to demonstrate that he is not isolated and has alternative partners willing to deepen their cooperation with Moscow, Daily Maverick reported.
According to a statement by the Presidency, the summit will focus on deepening cooperation between Russia and African states in key areas which include, among others, politics, security, trade, science and humanitarian support.
The summit backdrop will also “offer an opportunity to African heads of state who are part of the African Leaders Peace Mission to continue talks with president Putin on the confidence-building measures that will create conducive conditions for a path to peace between Russia and Ukraine,” said the statement.
The Kremlin’s decision to rescind Fabricius’ accreditation to the St Petersburg Summit this week comes hot on the heels of the African Peace Mission plane saga, where a South African flight carrying journalists and security personnel was grounded in Poland for 26 hours. Read Queenin Masuabi’s reflection here.
“South Africa will use the summit backdrop to further engage Russia at a bilateral level to finalise the contents and substance of the upcoming BRICS summit,” continued the statement.
Daily Maverick sent queries to the Russia-Africa Summit organisers but did not receive a response by the time of publication. DM
Daily Maverick foreign policy specialist Peter Fabricius’ accreditation for the Russia-Africa Summit in St Petersburg this week was denied by the Roscongress Foundation, the Russian government body which is organising the forum.