A controversy has erupted in South Africa over the arrival of a superyacht of a Russian oligarch and ally of President Vladimir Putin. The government has allowed the boat to dock in Cape Town’s port, but the city’s mayor wants to block it.
The luxury yacht, called The NorthBillionaire Alexei Mordashov is on his way from Hong Kong to Cape Town. Mordashov is the richest man in Russia and the owner of the steelmaker Severstal. He is on the sanctions list of the European Union and the United States.
The South African government says it is not bound by these sanctions. But Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis considers it a “moral duty” to ban the yacht from her port as a statement against the “unjust war” in Ukraine.
Hill-Lewis, a member of the opposition Democratic Alliance party, urges the government to seize Mordashov’s 141-meter yacht. “Our country’s foreign policy regarding Russia’s illegal imperialist war is shameful.”
It is unclear how he wants to prevent the ship from docking in Cape Town. Hong Kong had previously refused to take action against the superyacht.
pomposity
The government does not intend to listen to the mayor’s call. A spokesperson calls it ‘important’ and warns that municipal authorities have no legal control over national borders, such as in the port.
“South Africa has no legal obligation to respect the sanctions imposed by the US and the EU,” said President’s spokesman Cyril Ramaphosa. “South Africa’s obligations on sanctions relate only to sanctions specifically adopted by the United Nations.”
South Africa, like many other African countries, is reluctant to criticize Russia. At the UN, the country abstains from voting resolutions condemning the war.
Richest Russian
Before the war in Ukraine, Mordashov, 57, was known as the richest man in Russia with a wealth of around € 29 billion. While denying he does not engage in Russian politics, he has been the target of Western sanctions from the very beginning.
Another Mordashov yacht, the lady m, was kidnapped in Italy in March. The North is according to the business magazine Forbes one of the most extravagant boats in the world, with two heliports, a swimming pool and a cinema. Shortly after the war began, the yacht left the Seychelles for the port of Vladivostok in eastern Russia.
Watch our videos about the war in Ukraine in the playlist below:
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