Ukraine War Will Hit Poor South Africans in pocket – Steenhuisen

Democratic Alliance (DA) leader John Steenhuisen said that he wanted to see first-hand the devastation caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

He’s flown to the eastern European country on what he’s calling a “fact-finding mission”.

Steenhuisen touched down in the city of Lviv in western Ukraine.

“Over the cause of the next week, I’ll be visiting refugee camps as well as meeting various mayors, governors, leaders students, and ordinary Ukrainian citizens to see firsthand the effects of the Russian invasion and the ongoing occupation,” he said.

He added that he wanted to get a better sense of the knock-on effect of the war.

“Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is not a European problem it is a global problem and the knock-on effect of this war on our own fuel, maize, cooking oil, and fertilizer prices is going to reach very deeply in the pockets of poor South Africans,” he said.

The conflict has been partly blamed for skyrocketing fuel prices locally.

The war has raged on for over two months, displacing millions of Ukrainians and leaving hundreds of people dead.