The Presidency says the debacle involving presidential security officers and their weapons in Poland almost two weeks ago has not been a blight on bilateral relations.
One hundred security personnel and a dozen journalists were barred from disembarking a chartered SAA plane in Warsaw for 26 hours over a dispute regarding weapon permits.
They were en route to accompany President Cyril Ramaphosa on his peace mission to Ukraine and Russia.
Presidential spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said on Wednesday, The Presidency was assured by the South African Police Service that all its documents for the security equipment on board that flight were in order.
Magwenya says the government is engaging its Polish counterparts to understand why members of the presidential protection unit and journalists were held aboard an aircraft and barred from entering Poland for more than a day.
Despite the aircraft being under police guard, The Presidency said it did not view the situation as the detention of passengers.
“There is a process currently under way just reviewing all the steps that were taken prior to that flight, and during what transpired in Warsaw after the flight landed,” said Magwenya.
He said most of the security equipment on board the plane was to be deployed in Kyiv, which was Ramaphosa’s first stop on his African peace mission with six other African leaders.
“All the necessary documentation was completed. All the necessary permits were secured for the security equipment that was onboard that flight,” Magwenya said.
He said the Department of International Relations and Cooperation had already met with the Polish ambassador to South Africa regarding the incident.
-EWN
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