📢 “This is not diplomacy — it’s desperation.”
Themba Godi, President of the African People's Convention and former South African MP, doesn’t hold back on Zelensky’s visit to South Africa 🛬🇿🇦
In this unapologetic interview:
🎙️ Godi calls out Zelensky’s visit as a political performance
🌍 Questions Western intentions behind Ukraine's outreach to Africa
🧠 Offers deep insight into South Africa’s non-aligned stance and Africa’s evolving global role
⚖️ Critiques the imbalance in how African nations are engaged during international crises
🔥 A must-watch for anyone questioning media narratives and geopolitical agendas.
👉 LIKE 👍 | SUBSCRIBE 🔔 | COMMENT 💬 to support voices from the Global South and real political analysis.
#ThembaGodi
#ZelenskyInAfrica
#UkraineAfricaRelations
#AfricanPeoplesConvention
#SouthAfricaPolitics
#GeopoliticalTruth
#UkrainePRStunt
#GlobalSouthVoices
#AfricaAndTheWorld
#UkraineConflict
#RussiaUkraine
#NonAlignedMovement
#ZelenskyVisit
#AfricanLeadersSpeak
#TruthToPower
#AlternativeViewpoint
#PanAfricanPerspective
#AfricaDiplomacy
#UkraineWarNarrative
#IndependentMedia
Themba Godi, President of the African People's Convention and former South African MP, doesn’t hold back on Zelensky’s visit to South Africa 🛬🇿🇦
In this unapologetic interview:
🎙️ Godi calls out Zelensky’s visit as a political performance
🌍 Questions Western intentions behind Ukraine's outreach to Africa
🧠 Offers deep insight into South Africa’s non-aligned stance and Africa’s evolving global role
⚖️ Critiques the imbalance in how African nations are engaged during international crises
🔥 A must-watch for anyone questioning media narratives and geopolitical agendas.
👉 LIKE 👍 | SUBSCRIBE 🔔 | COMMENT 💬 to support voices from the Global South and real political analysis.
#ThembaGodi
#ZelenskyInAfrica
#UkraineAfricaRelations
#AfricanPeoplesConvention
#SouthAfricaPolitics
#GeopoliticalTruth
#UkrainePRStunt
#GlobalSouthVoices
#AfricaAndTheWorld
#UkraineConflict
#RussiaUkraine
#NonAlignedMovement
#ZelenskyVisit
#AfricanLeadersSpeak
#TruthToPower
#AlternativeViewpoint
#PanAfricanPerspective
#AfricaDiplomacy
#UkraineWarNarrative
#IndependentMedia
Category
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NewsTranscript
00:00We're now joined by the President of the African People's Convention Party, Bemba Ghodi.
00:05Many thanks for joining us on the programme today. It's very good to see you.
00:08So, several hours after Zelensky announced he was cutting short his trip to South Africa and heading back to Kiev,
00:16it seems he's still there, he's still in Pretoria. Why do you think that is?
00:19Well, we believe that Zelensky's visit to our country is a disparate effort to wiggle himself into the countries of the South,
00:33whom he had ignored and despised throughout the challenging period of the special military operation.
00:41Otherwise, there is no substantive and logical reason why he's still in the country.
00:50When the African delegation went to Kiev and Moscow, they were treated very, very shady in Ukraine,
00:58actually being told they're trying to engage themselves in matters over which they have no capacity to understand.
01:06I don't think that there can be anything more racist than that.
01:09So, we see Zelensky coming to our country as merely part of a PR exercise to try and appear good to the countries of the South,
01:19realising that his situation is not getting any better. If anything, it's getting worse.
01:26While speaking in Pretoria, Zelensky took a jab at Russia over its cooperation with Africa.
01:31We can actually have a listen to exactly what he said. Let's remind us.
01:35I don't think I would associate it with a visit to South Africa.
01:41Of course, Putin does not like Ukraine's presence in Africa.
01:45Of course, he really does not want Ukraine to build normal human, primarily humanitarian and economic relations with the countries of your continent.
01:54Russia has always tried to do this, not only on the African continent, but also, unfortunately, on other continents.
02:01And in Latin America, they attempt this everywhere, absolutely everywhere.
02:06They want an exclusive presence on continents, both in your country and in other countries.
02:11This is their policy.
02:14It's an interesting comment because Ukraine itself was implicated last year in supporting terrorists in the Sahel region of Africa,
02:21as pointed out by Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso.
02:24So, in light of that, what do you make of Zelensky's rhetoric there?
02:29Well, I think it's pure lies.
02:33It's pure lies.
02:35And I think it's so sad for him to come all the way from Ukraine, to come and make such a blatantly false statement.
02:44I think part of the reason why some of us are strongly opposed to Zelensky beyond his being a puppet of NATO is the fact that they support terrorists in the Sahel region.
02:57And if you look at the havoc being caused in northern Mali, in northern Burkina Faso, as well as the central and eastern parts of Niger,
03:09with the support of Ukraine, it really is something that has nothing to do with Russia, but everything to do with their own position.
03:19And I think it is this lie, this hypocrisy, that cannot earn any respect from anybody serious in the South.
03:29This South African president said today that Zelensky told him Ukraine is ready for an unconditional ceasefire.
03:37Does that seem realistic to you, given all the reported violations by Kiev during the recent partial truce, as well as the eastern ceasefire?
03:44I think that's empty rhetoric as far as I'm concerned.
03:50I think Russia's experience with the Minsk agreements, where the Ukrainians, the Germans, and the French boasted that they signed those agreements without any intention of implementing them,
04:03surely would cause Russia to put conditions for any ceasefire.
04:08Even in our own negotiations here to end apartheid, stopping the armed struggle had to come with conditions, there had to be conditionalities.
04:19To merely say you want a pause without any conditions, it's mystery, meaning give me the break to re-arm, to reorganise, and then to relaunch with more ferocity.
04:33I think that's a meaningless statement.
04:35A lot of people are calling out Zelensky because this is his first visit to the continent in six years.
04:41It doesn't seem that he cared much about Africa previously.
04:45So why do you think he's there now?
04:48Well, we all remember very painfully this side of the world when the special military operation began
04:56and African students were leaving Kiev on their way to Poland, the indignities that they suffered remained edged in the minds of many,
05:09and it concretised our attitude towards Ukraine.
05:14And the fact that he's only coming now confirms our view that all along he did not care about countries of the South or of the continent.
05:24And he's only coming now as a disparate PR exercise because he realises that without the Americans, even the Europeans are not enough.
05:34And the countries of the South have literally bulged away from him because they see him as somebody who's a war monger,
05:43secondly, somebody who is a prepaid president, meaning he's there as a puppet of external forces.
05:51And countries of the South, having suffered decades and centuries of colonial rule,
05:57would instinctively move away from such a situation.
06:02And that's why we feel some of us strongly aggrieved and supported the various demonstrations that took place today
06:10at the president's official residence, at the Ukrainian embassy and also in Soweto,
06:17because they were demonstrating an awareness of the fact that there is nothing genuine or positive for Africa from Zelensky,
06:26except that he wants to use us to show up his fading image.
06:30Yeah, it's hard for some to read Zelensky's behaviour right now because he's previously rebuffed South Africa's peace initiative on Ukraine.
06:38He's repeatedly criticised the nation for its ties with Russia, despite South Africa's neutrality.
06:44Does it look like he's ready to change his mind now that he's in Pretoria, do you think?
06:48Look, if he can't change his mind when he talks to his puppet masters, the Europeans and the Americans,
07:01what leverage does South Africa have over Ukraine that it can cause him to change?
07:06I mean, the past meeting in London was downgraded primarily because Zelensky had stubbornly told the Americans their peace proposal is a non-starter.
07:20So I don't see how coming to South Africa in terms of substantively moving the peace process forward
07:27can yield anything if he is resisting the Americans, you know, feeling the comfort of the support of Britain, France and Germany.
07:38Thank you so much for speaking to us today. It's really good to hear your thoughts.
07:41Ben Begody, President of the African People's Convention Party. Thank you.