- For more financial news, go to the News24 Business front page.South Africa will next month go ahead with naval exercises off its eastern coast with Russian and Chinese warships in a decision that could further strain its relationship with some of its biggest trading partners.South Africa’s reluctance to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its decision to allow sanctioned Russian vessels to dock at its ports have already ramped up tensions with the US, UK and European Union who are backing Ukraine in the conflict.While the exercise follows a similar event in 2019, it comes about a year after Russia invaded Ukraine, an event that brought into the open South Africa’s close ties with Russia due to historical support for the African country’s liberation struggle and their joint membership of the BRICS group of nations.The US, Germany, Japan and the UK are leading trading partners for South Africa, while Russia isn’t in the top 15."