JOHANNESBURG – South African government’s Defence Minister Angie Motshekga has ordered a board of inquiry to determine why President Cyril Ramaphosa’s instruction to exclude Iranian warships from a multinational naval exercise off the coast of Cape Town was allegedly not implemented by the South African National Defence Force (SANDF).
The decision follows mounting controversy over Iran’s apparent participation in Exercise Will for Peace 2026, despite government assurances that Tehran would be withdrawn from the drill. According to Daily Maverick, Ramaphosa’s directive was motivated by diplomatic concerns, particularly the risk of further straining relations with the United States at a sensitive moment when the renewal of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) was under consideration in the US Congress.
In a statement issued on Friday, 16 January 2026, Motshekga said the president’s instruction had been “clearly communicated to all parties concerned” and that a board of inquiry (BOI) would now establish whether that order had been “misrepresented and/or ignored”.
“Due to the seriousness of the allegations and reports in the media, the Minister has established a Board of Inquiry to look into the circumstances surrounding the matter and to establish all the facts on what took place during the exercise,” Motshekga said. The BOI has been instructed to submit its report within seven days of the exercise’s conclusion.
The statement came after days of silence from both the Ministry of Defence and the SANDF, even as evidence mounted that three Iranian naval vessels – including the corvette Iris Naghdi – remained active in Simon’s Town and False Bay throughout the week. The SANDF initially posted on social media that the Iris Naghdi was taking part in the sea phase of the exercise alongside vessels from Russia, China, the United Arab Emirates and South Africa, but the post was later deleted.
As Daily Maverick reported, the defence force declined to respond to repeated questions about whether the Iranian ships had actively participated in the drills or merely observed them.
Opposition parties have seized on the episode as a test of civilian control over the military. Democratic Alliance defence spokesperson Chris Hattingh welcomed the inquiry but warned that such processes often dragged on without accountability.
“At the heart of this matter is civilian control over the military,” Hattingh said. “South Africa’s constitutional order is clear: the SANDF is subject to civilian authority, and the president is the commander-in-chief.”
Hattingh argued that if Ramaphosa’s instruction was not implemented promptly, or was diluted by senior officials, it would represent “a dangerous breakdown in command discipline and accountability” with serious diplomatic and national security consequences. He also pointed to remarks made last year by SANDF chief General Rudzani Maphwanya in Tehran about strengthening military cooperation with Iran, suggesting these may have complicated or contradicted the president’s later directive.
The controversy has already drawn sharp criticism from Washington. The US embassy in Pretoria said it was “concerned and alarmed” by reports that Iranian forces remained involved in the exercise, describing Iran as “a destabilising actor and state sponsor of terror”. In a strongly worded statement cited by Daily Maverick, the embassy said South Africa could not claim non-alignment while conducting joint drills with “America’s chief adversaries”.
US Senator Jim Risch, chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, went further, accusing the ANC-led government of masking its alignment choices behind non-alignment rhetoric and calling for tougher action against Pretoria.
Neither the US embassy nor the Iranian embassy in Pretoria commented directly on Motshekga’s decision to launch the inquiry.
Naval sources told Daily Maverick that the sea phase of the exercise ended on Thursday, with foreign vessels expected to depart South African waters on Sunday. However, the political fallout from the episode is unlikely to subside soon, with growing pressure on Motshekga to appear before Parliament to explain how a presidential instruction could allegedly go unheeded by the armed forces.
As scrutiny intensifies, the board of inquiry is expected to play a crucial role in clarifying whether the SANDF merely misinterpreted the president’s order – or whether it crossed a constitutional red line by failing to obey it.
