Cape Town – International Relations and Co-operation Minister Naledi Pandor has described as “odd” the latest security warnings by the United States embassy on the ongoing electricity crisis in South Africa.
Pandor said none of the “surprise” warnings came to fruition.
“I found it rather surprising and odd. I don’t recall such alerts when California had similar blackouts and outages. I found it a rather odd warning, but there have been many of these surprise warnings and none of what is warned about has come to fruition,” Pandor said.
South African Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr. Naledi Pandor has dismissed a warning by the United States government to its citizens in South Africa to stock up on food and water. #US @TheCitizen_News Video: @SAgovnews pic.twitter.com/A6qbtmyC01
— 𝙵𝚊𝚒𝚣𝚎𝚕 𝙿𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚕 (@FaizelPatel143) February 28, 2023
She was speaking on the sidelines of Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni’s state visit at the Union Buildings in Pretoria on Tuesday.
The US government recently warned its citizens in South Africa to ensure that they have “the necessary medicine, 72 hours’ worth of supplies at home by stocking non-perishable food, three litres of water per person per day and first aid supplies”.
According to the US, the security alert was “over the ongoing energy crisis, load shedding and controlled energy outages”.
PICTORIAL; Hon.@GenJejeOdongo, Minister @UgandaMFA and Hon. Dr. Naledi Pandor, Minister @DIRCO_ZA today co-chaired the Ministerial Session of the Mid-Term Review of the Joint Commission of Cooperation(JCC) between 🇺🇬🇿🇦 @KagutaMuseveni @CyrilRamaphosa @OPMUganda@StateHouseUg pic.twitter.com/uI022PbKy7
— Mutuya Jamiru (@JamiMutya) February 27, 2023
Pandor also spoke about the Russia-Ukraine war and reiterated that South Africa favours peace and diplomacy.
“We’re against war because it brings harm. The position that we have adopted is one that says, ‘let us find the road to peace’. We believe that diplomacy will indeed eventually win the days tragic and that lives will have to be lost before we realise we should get around the table and a negotiated settlement.”
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Compiled by Junaid Benjamin
