South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Thursday that Western countries have threatened African states that have not aligned themselves against Russia in the war in Ukraine with sanctions.

"Now we are also witnessing the African continent being dragged into conflicts far beyond our own borders," said the South African leader, quoted by Lusa.

"Some countries, including our own, are being threatened with sanctions for pursuing an independent foreign policy and adopting a position of non-alignment," said Ramaphosa.

Without referring directly to the current war in Ukraine, the South African head of state stressed that African countries "have painful memories of a time when proxy wars were fought on African soil by foreign superpowers".

"We have not forgotten the terrible and brutal legacy of first having our continent divided and colonized by European countries, only to find ourselves once again as pawns on a chessboard during the Cold War," he said.

Ramaphosa said that "we are not going back to that period in history", adding that South Africa "has not been and will not be dragged into a dispute between global powers".

According to Ramaphosa, South Africa will continue to maintain its position of neutrality on the peaceful resolution of conflicts "wherever such conflicts occur".

"Guided by the lessons of our history, we will continue to resist calls to abandon our independent and non-aligned foreign policy," said the South African president.

In his speech, Ramphosa also said that "some multinational companies are involved in unscrupulous conduct that harms human health and pollutes the environment", adding that "in many parts of the continent, battles for control of Africa's natural resources are fueling conflict, instability and terrorism".

It should be noted that after the recent US accusations against Pretoria, the South African government denied sending arms and ammunition to Russia, reiterating its position of "non-alignment" in the conflict in Ukraine, following the military offensive unleashed by Russia.