South Postpones Mosi III naval exercises with BRICS counterparts Russia and China amid G20 summit preparations. Image credit: Atlantic Council
(The Post News) – South Africa is negotiating with China to postpone a planned joint naval exercise with Russia and China because of its disagreement with the country’s preparation to host the G20 Leaders’ Summit this November 2025.
In a release on Thursday, 4 September, the Department of Defence announced that the exercise, Mosi III, was to be postponed to a “mutually convenient date” so as not to disrupt the massive logistical and security preparations for the summit.
“After consulting with the Presidency and the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO), the Department of Defence is also negotiating with its Chinese counterparts in the People’s Republic of China a postponement of the exercise,” the statement added.
Mosi Naval Exercises
The Mosi series of exercises brings together the Russian, Chinese, and South African navies biannually. South Africa hosted the first drill in Cape Town in 2019, and Russia hosted Mosi II in Richards Bay in 2023.
Mosi III, originally to be held in November 2025 under the China flag, includes tactical exercises, anti-piracy training exercises, search-and-rescue, and interoperability.
Hosting the G20 Leaders’ Summit, the first on the continent, is logistically challenging to South Africa. On 22–23 November in Johannesburg, the summit will accommodate more than 40 heads of state and thousands of delegates.
Having a naval drill at the same time would be taxing the capacity of the SANDF, it is claimed. Summit security involves high-level defence deployments, traffic management, and dignitaries’ protection, leaving little room for simultaneous large-scale military exercises.
South Africa’s Neutrality and Global Partnerships
The Defence Department underscored that postponing the exercise does not mean South Africa is moving away from its BRICS partners. The officials highlighted that the SANDF participates from time to time in collective military drills with a very wide constituency, from America and France to Brazil and Germany.
Exercise Ubuntu with America in 2024, for instance, focused on humanitarian support, while Operation Oxide with France involved counter-piracy patrols.
South Africa’s military alignment with Russia has also attracted political criticism. Mosi II this year, in 2023, coincided with Moscow’s anniversary of invading Ukraine, which created a whirlwind of criticism from Western allies and opposition parties. They charged the administration with compromising its policy of being non-aligned.
With the G20 Summit looming, in which discussions would be on sanctions and wars, officials didn’t want to attract more controversy this year.
The delay in negotiations come hot on the heels when Washington canceled Exercise Shared Accord 2025, a planned South African peacekeeping and humanitarian exercise. The cancellation has been interpreted as confirmation of troubled Washington-Pretoria relations in the wake of improved Washington-South Africa relations with China and Russia.
Notwithstanding this, the G20 remains Pretoria’s number one priority. Under the theme of Solidarity, Equality, Sustainability, the summit will highlight Africa’s role in determining solutions to climate change, trade reform, and sustainable development.
The officials confirm that delaying Mosi III will mean all the resources are focused on hosting a successful G20 Summit.
“South Africa continues to have bilateral military training with a broad range of countries, promoting global stability and improving our own defence capability,” the Defence Department said.
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