POLAND SABOTAGES RAMAPHOSA

President Cyril Ramaphosa's life was on Thursday “put in jeopardy” after highly trained members of his protection team, including the man leading the Presidential Protection Services, meant to provide critical security to the president in Kyiv, Ukraine, remained stuck in the plane in Poland due to aviation regulations and bureaucracy.

PPS head Maj-Gen Wally Rhoode has accused the Polish government of “deliberately sabotaging” Ramaphosa's peace initiative after a SAA chartered plane ferrying about 120 special force members and journalists was detained on Thursday.

Hours after Ramaphosa paid a courtesy call to his counterpart, Polish President Andrzej Duda, dramatic scenes unfolded on the tarmac of the Warsaw Chopin Airport.

Pointing to his colleague, Rhoode told the media: “She tried for four hours to get in here, she was strip-searched. It has never happened that we have strip-searched someone with a diplomatic passport, just to get us out of here.”

He was referring to an incident where a senior female PPS official was trying to organise accommodation for the police and members of the media. Shortly before the drama ensued she had entered the plane and informed the journalists the police would be offering accommodation to female reporters. However after leaving, she never returned to fetch the female journalists.

Major General Rhoode says the South African government obtained all the necessary permits and have been engaging with the Polish government for two weeks. #AfricanPeaceInitiative pic.twitter.com/NJCgq9MGY6

— @SAgovnews (@SAgovnews) June 15, 2023