Polish Government Putting Cyril Ramaphosa’s Life in Jeopardy: Major General Rhoode, Social Media Over the Moon

• President Cyril Ramaphosa's contingent carrying his protection service and support team remains stuck at a Poland tarmac
• His head of protection service, Major-General Wally Rhoode is crying foul, accusing the Polish authorities of sabotage
• Social media is going wild, most with excitement saying the entourage deserves the harsh treatment from the Poland government

WARSAW - President Cyril Ramaphosa's top cop has taken to the media and accused the Polish government of attempting to sabotage South Africa's peace mission to Ukraine.

The head of the Presidential Protection Services, Major-General Wally Rhoode, accused Poland of putting Ramaphosa's life in 'jeopardy' after detaining an SAA chartered plane transporting about 120 special force members and journalists on Thursday, 15 June.

Ramaphosa had arrived in Warsaw for an African Peace Mission

The president had paid a courtesy visit to Polish President Andrzej Duda ahead of a peace mission along with Egypt, Congo, Zambia, Senegal and Uganda heads of state in efforts to broker peace between the conflict-stricken Ukraine and Russia.

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The African delegates are set to meet with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin to attempt a peace treaty to end the war.

Major-General Wally Rhoode accuses Poland of sabotage and racism

The plan to transport Ramaphosa's delegation to Kyiv was disrupted at the Warsaw Chopin Airport's tarmac.

In a report by TheCitizen, Rhoode says the Polish authorities refused to accept the paperwork for the aircraft ferrying the president's media contingency, his security team, and several containers carrying protection weapons and the police service's equipment.

“This is what they are doing and I want you to see that when we started to open the packages, they wanted to rush to confiscate our firearms and that is why we had to put it back.”

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TimesLIVE reports Rhoode's frustrations and claims:

"Now they say that we don't have permits, we have permits. The only difference is that they are saying we cannot bring a copy of a permit, we must bring the original.

"All of a sudden we must have permits and are putting the life of our president in jeopardy because we could have been in Kyiv (Ukraine) this afternoon already."

SowetanLIVE reported that Ramaphosa arrived in Ukraine while his contingent remained stuck in Poland.

Some South Africans were impressed with the Polish authorities:

@thulaniskosana3 congratulated Poland's government:

"Well done to the Polish for being vigilant against the #PhalaPhalaFarmGateCriminal syndicate, who knows what else they want to smuggle this time!"

@g_mapaya said:

"Serves ya'll right, they must frustrate ya'll the same way you frustrate us here at home. Good to watch."

@MatshobaThami2 responded to the news:

"Cyril deserves this! He must now be decisive on South Africa's stance in the Russia and Ukraine War. There is no sitting on the fence!"

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@ericakeperica asked:

"The embassy failed you. Why would you take a copy and not the original when travelling to Europe? If you have ever travelled with a child who needs an unabridged birth certificate, you will know."

@nonigatlin asked:

"Why not go back home? Clearly. you are unwanted! What's the problem with going back home, loadshedding?"

@JillBTheLight said:

"Good for you. Rushing to other countries on this important day."

Explosions are heard in the Podilsk district

Meanwhile, Briefly News reports that explosions were heard in Ukraine's Podilsk district.

Kyiv's Mayor Vitali Klitschko says no buildings are damaged as the sounds heard are coming from works done by the defence force.

In October, Russia launched a widescale attack and bombed several Ukrainian cities in an apparent revenge strike, accusing Ukraine of blasting a bridge linking Russia and Crimea and causing extensive damage.

Source: Briefly News