In a blunt response to a Russian government tweet, Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis has condemned the docking of a Russian warship in the city, saying it was not welcome in the Mother City.

The Admiral Gorshkov docked in Cape Town on Monday. It is in the southern hemisphere preparatory to participating in joint naval exercises with China and South Africa. Exercise Mosi II takes place off the coast of Durban later this month.

The exercises have been roundly condemned, in view of the contradiction in South Africa’s claim to be neutral over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Pretoria is clearly favouring Russia.

On Monday, the Russian government’s Twitter page posted a picture of the Admiral Gorshkov battleship’s arrival in Cape Town, against the backdrop of Table Mountain.

The tweet read: ‘The battleship arrived in the Mother City on its way to Durban, where it will take part in joint [SA, Chinese and Russian] naval drills scheduled for February 17-27.’

Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis responded: ‘‘We are not hosting this warship, nor is it welcome in the Mother City. Cape Town will not be complicit in Russia’s evil war.’

News24 quoted him as saying that President Cyril Ramaphosa ‘must answer for his complicity’.

‘We do not want to host [the ship] in the Mother City. Similarly, Russian soldiers who are taking part in Vladimir Putin’s illegal war against Ukraine are not welcomed, and we do not want to host them in the Mother City,’ Hill-Lewis told News24.

Russian battleship not welcome in Cape Town, says mayor – Daily Friend