Who’s who in the SA-Iran naval drill fiasco

Military experts have suggested that Defence Minister Angie Motshekga, along with all the top officers implicated in the Iran naval drill fiasco, should face the music. Who are the major players in this mess?

The board of inquiry into the failure to withdraw Iran from the maritime exercise Will for Peace last week should establish who disobeyed President Cyril Ramaphosa’s instructions or review the SA National Defence Force’s (SANDF’s) power to decide, on its own, in future, which countries participate in such joint naval drills.

This has been made clear by Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya. He told Daily Maverick, “The instruction from the President and the subsequent discussions that followed, and the agreement with all concerned parties was that Iran was no longer going to participate in the drills.

“The board of inquiry will, therefore, look at what transpired from the time the instruction was given by the President via the minister [of defence] to the time the exercise started.

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“The minister of defence will present the report of her board of inquiry to the President. Based on that report, appropriate steps will be taken either against individuals or a review of processes will follow. We will have to wait for the board of inquiry report for a clear way forward,” Magwenya continued.

Russia, China, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates and Iran actively participated in the exercise off Simon’s Town, from 9 to 16 January, with some other nations of the BRICS+ group observing.

Ramaphosa ordered Iran’s withdrawal from the exercise on 9 January, after reportedly being alerted by the US embassy about how badly Iran’s participation would be viewed in Washington, at a time when Tehran was brutally suppressing protests and legislation to renew the Agoa trade agreement was going through Congress. However, the three Iranian vessels — a corvette and two support ships — continued to participate in the exercise through to the end.

Defence and Military Veterans Minister Angie Motshekga has since ordered a board of inquiry to establish why Ramaphosa’s instructions were not obeyed. She said the board would have just seven days to report back to her on its findings.

SANDF spokesperson Siphiwe Dlamini told Bloomberg on Monday that officials would meet that afternoon to decide on arrangements for the board, such as when it would start. He was adamant that the board’s report and findings would be made public “as this issue is most definitely in the public interest”.

Military experts have suggested that Motshekga, along with all the top officers implicated in this naval drill fiasco, should face the music. Who are the major players in this particular mess?

Vice-Admiral Monde Lobese

The South African Navy boss is first in the firing line for this debacle, according to the Sunday Times. The publication reported on 18 January that Lobese had ignored a specific instruction from President Cyril Ramaphosa for Iran to withdraw from the Will for Peace exercise and was expected to “face repercussions” at the Union Buildings.

Lobese has been chief of the SA Navy since November 2022, a period during which the navy has faced several challenges. There was the Lady R, the sanctioned Russian cargo ship that docked in Simon’s Town in December 2022, and whose clandestine activities quickly caught the eye of residents. There was also the SAS ’Manthatisi submarine disaster in September 2023, in which three submariners died while performing naval exercises in high seas near Kommetjie.

Lobese has long been outspoken about the budget cuts affecting the navy. At its gala concert in November 2025, he once again criticised the Cabinet for underfunding the navy, and the SANDF more broadly, accusing them of acting in an “unpatriot” manner and jeopardising national security, reported News24.

In his speech, Lobese said he found himself questioning whether those in charge of making decisions regarding the SANDF, “may be directly or indirectly influenced by these drug cartels, illegal traders, maritime criminals and human traffickers”.

Motshekga called Lobese’s comments “inappropriate, disingenuous and unfortunate”. She added that she would take steps to “deal” with Lobese’s “unfortunate outburst”.

Defence Minister Angie Motshekga

Motshekga was previously South Africa’s Minister of Basic Education, a position she held from 2009 to 2024, earning her the title of the country’s longest-serving education minister. Before that, she was Gauteng’s education MEC for five years.

In July 2024, Ramaphosa decided that Motshekga needed to move from improving the minds of SA’s young learners to managing its sovereign defence capabilities and appointed her as minister of defence. Soon after her appointment, Motshekga, in Parliament, described the department she had inherited from Thandi Modise as a “wrecked ship”.

Motshekga faced severe criticism for the deaths of 14 SANDF soldiers in fighting M23 armed rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) a year ago and the withdrawal of the remainder of the force.

The intervention of SA Development Community (SADC) soldiers through the SADC Mission in DRC (Samidrc) was widely considered ill-conceived and poorly executed. Motshekga’s insistence on describing Samidrc as a “peacekeeping mission” — whereas it had a clear combat mandate, to neutralise armed rebel groups like the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group, which was overrunning large swathes of eastern DRC — raised doubts that she understood the problem.

General Rudzani Maphwanya

Like nearly everyone else in this saga, SANDF chief General Rudzani Maphwanya is no stranger to controversy.

In August 2025, Maphwanya went on an eyebrow-raising trip to Tehran, during which he met with top Iranian officials, reportedly affirmed Iran and South Africa’s “common goals”, criticised Israel, and called for deeper ties, particularly as far as defence cooperation was concerned, between South Africa and Iran.

Both the Department of International Relations and Cooperation and the Department of Defence dissociated themselves from his remarks. The Presidency said Ramaphosa was unaware of and had not approved Maphwanya’s visit.

Motshekga later said she had given Maphwanya permission to travel to Iran, and that the trip had been scheduled and approved in 2024.

There is also the matter of the Frans Mathipa case.

In June last year, 12 members of the SANDF were arrested in connection with the murder of Hawks investigator Frans Mathipa in August 2023. An Open Secrets investigation had found that Mathipa was investigating the December 2022 illegal abduction of Ethiopian national Abdella Hussein Abadiga when he was murdered. The investigation had also revealed an alleged torture squad within the SANDF.

The arrest of the 12 SANDF members, who were under Maphwanya’s ultimate command, came after he had denied the existence of military squads in the SANDF that carry out acts of torture and murder.

Maphwanya was appointed as head of the SANDF in June 2021. Before that, he served as the SANDF chief of joint operations.

Lieutenant-General Siphiwe Sangweni

Sangweni has been the SANDF chief of joint operations since June 2021. Other than a biography detailing his various positions in the SANDF since 1994, not much else exists about him online.

In February 2023, AFP reported that Sangweni had defended the SANDF’s decision to host the Mosi-II exercise with Russia and China, on the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“There is a difference between military and politics,” Sangweni told AFP. He added that the SANDF was guided by the government but also needed to learn new skills from other military forces. DM

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