On 9 January the demonstration  against the presence of the russian naval ship in South African non-aligned waters took place. This demonstration brought together people united by a shared commitment to justice, human rights, and resistance to imperial violence.

Carrying a self-made children’s coffin marked “russia kills,” demonstrators sought to remind the public that the russian army has murdered and forcibly militarised thousands of Ukrainian children – and continues to recruit, exploit, and kill vulnerable people across Africa, including in South Africa.

“We are here to represent the murdered Ukrainian children,” said Olga from UAZA. “A russian naval ship cannot cruise South African waters as if nothing is happening.”

russia’s aggression has been escalating for past 12 years. As a result of strikes carried out on 8-9 January, millions of people in the Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Kyiv and other regions were left without electricity, heating, or water in –10°C winter temperatures – while russia is conducting so-called “will for peace” military exercises in South African waters.

A country forged through resistance against imperialism and oppression South Africa cannot remain indifferent when those same forces are being exercised elsewhere. To stand against oppression is not to choose sides between nations, but to uphold the international law, UN charter and South African Constructional principles: no state has the right to erase another people through terror, displacement, and war.

This demonstration was an expression of that shared principle – a united refusal to normalise aggression under the guise of neutrality.