South Africa is holding talks on rescheduling joint naval exercises with Russia and China, initially planned for November, as their dates coincide with the G20 summit in Johannesburg, the South African Ministry of Defence press service reported.
“Given the events related to South Africa’s G20 presidency, the Ministry of Defence is holding talks on rescheduling the joint naval exercises between South Africa, Russia and China, planned for November 2025,” the statement said.
The Ministry of Defence noted that the rescheduling is being undertaken so that “the exercises do not impact logistical, security and other organisational measures related to South Africa’s G20 presidency”.
Earlier, the Defenceweb portal reported that the joint naval exercises Mosi III (“Smoke”), involving Russia, China and South Africa, were to be held in the waters of South Africa’s Western Cape province in November this year.
The G20 summit will take place in Johannesburg on 22–23 November.
In August, Russian Ambassador Roman Ambarov presented South African Navy chief Vice Admiral Monde Lobese with an award “For strengthening military co-operation”.
