POLL | Do you think Putin will listen to Ramaphosa and end the war?

President Cyril Ramaphosa's “peace mission” to Ukraine and Russia has split opinions, with some claiming it as a success and others a waste of time.

Ramaphosa met Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday and pleaded with him to end the war in Ukraine.

He was part of a delegation of seven African leaders who also met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv and detailed the impact the war had on African nations.

Sunday Times reported Putin welcomed the delegation but blamed the Ukrainian government for the confrontation. Zelensky had a day earlier said Russia was the offender and Russia should withdraw from Ukrainian territory.

The presidency said “both Presidents Zelensky and Putin agreed to further engagements following this initial visit.”

While some said the mission may yield peace, others felt it was a wasted trip.

The DA labelled the trip a “shambolic political stunt” and said it would submit urgent parliamentary questions to find out how much the trip cost the taxpayer.

“Not only did the presidency lie about being unaware of missile strikes on Kyiv while Ramaphosa’s so-called peace mission was in town, but his administration’s sheer incompetence caused a planeload of his bodyguards, journalists and apparently unauthorised weapons to be denied entry to Poland and Ukraine.

“Cyril Ramaphosa must be held accountable for the millions of rand in taxpayer funds wasted on his failed PR stunt,” DA leader John Steenhuisen said.

Presidential spokesperson Vincent Magwenya responded by saying Steenhuisen's statement was full of inaccuracies and wrong assumptions.

“We will address them [the inaccuracies and assumptions] in our parliamentary responses,” he said.

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