Thabiso Goba24 April 2025 | 9:17

MK Party members protest outside Union Buildings against Zelensky's SA visit

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky will on Thursday be welcomed at the Union Buildings by President Cyril Ramaphosa.

MK Party members protest outside Union Buildings against Zelensky's SA visit

A small group of uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party members protesting the arrival of Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky outside the Union Buildings in Pretoria on 24 April 2025. Picture: Thabiso Goba/EWN

JOHANNESBURG - A small group of uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party members staged a picket outside the Union Buildings in Pretoria, protesting the arrival of Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Zelensky will on Thursday be welcomed at the Union Buildings by President Cyril Ramaphosa.

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He is in South Africa on a working visit that is aimed at strengthening the bilateral ties between the two countries.

The small group of MK Party members braved the rain in Pretoria to vent their dissatisfaction with Zelensky's visit to South Africa.

The MK Party picket is being monitored closely by a large contingent of police.

MK Party national spokesperson Nhlamulo Ndlela said Zelensky was a puppet of Western imperialist countries.

"We reject the presence of this puppet who has been used as an extension of NATO neoliberal imperialist agenda, and we are saying we can’t allow that in our country - not in our name."

Ukrainian media is reporting Zelensky's visit to South Africa may be cut short following a Russian missile attack in Kyiv overnight that killed nine people and injured 80.