The whole unsavoury incident will amplify debates about Ramaphosa's strategic judgement, and questions will be asked about whether the President and those around him have by now realised just how little influence they have in Europe.

The African peace mission, in which President Cyril Ramaphosa played a leading role, may, in the end, deepen the internal divisions in South Africa over our apparent close relationship with Russia. While this debate has always been about the future direction of our society, and whether we support Russia or Ukraine (and thus the West), it is now likely to include questions about the SA government's basic competence.

The large number of protection officers, and what the Polish government claims to be a large number of weapons on the support flight to Warsaw, could well lead to bigger questions being asked in the next few weeks. The whole unsavoury incident will amplify debates about Ramaphosa's strategic judgement, and questions will be asked about whether the President and those around him have by now realised just how little influence they have in Europe.

It is in the elemental toolbox of many politicians around the world to seek to appear next to world leaders on the central stage because it often enhances their prestige back home. But the reverse is true should that brief sojourn in the global spotlight turn into a humiliation -- it invariably leads to domestic humiliation too.

Inevitably,...