Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis on Monday wrote to the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Naledi Pandor, requesting her to block the entry of a vessel owned and sailed by Alexey Mordashov.

The request came amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine and its annexation of four areas of its territory.

Oligarch Mordashov is a known ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

South Africa will allow sanctioned Russian steel magnate Alexey Mordashov to pull his superyacht Nord into Cape Town https://t.co/1JC2KQZbVq

— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) October 25, 2022

But presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya says individuals who abide by the country's immigration laws can not be denied entry into the country.

"A Russian yacht is reported to be sailing to South African waters, South African obligations with respect to sanctions relate to only those specifically adopted by the United Nations. Currently there are no UN-imposed sanctions on the particular individual, therefore South Africa has no legal obligation to abide by sanctions that the US and EU have decided to impose within specific jurisdictions.

“For as long as individuals abide by our immigration laws, we have no reason to prevent their entry to South Africa."

Jacaranda News