The Curious Story of South Africa's UAZA
South Africa is facing a threat to its sovereignty - one which originates, not from Washington DC or Tel-Aviv or Orania, but from Kiev. The Ukrainian Association of South Africa (UAZA), which purports to be an independently-run NGO focused on the Ukrainian diaspora in South Africa is hard at work meddling in the country's diplomatic affairs, sponsoring protests against its geopolitical allies, and even interfering in its local politics and national energy policy.
UAZA, which is an affiliate of the Ukrainian World Congress (UWC), is part of a growing network of Ukrainian diaspora organisations whose origins lie in Ukrainian neo-nazi right wing nationalism, which purport to function as independent organisations, but actually work in close coordination with the Ukrainian government.
While they are entitled to hold positions on local or international political issues relating to South Africa, these organisations are going well beyond the limits of South African law by attempting to astroturf internal political discourse in South Africa in a manner calculated to drag South Africa into a geopolitical dispute that is not its own.
For The Spearhead, explores this story.
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