By Enyichukwu Enemanna
South Africa is considering quitting the International Criminal Court (ICC) ahead of the Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa bloc, better known as BRICS summit in August which is expected to have the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin in attendance.
President Cyril Ramaphosa announced on Tuesday that his ruling African National Congress (ANC) party had resolved that Pretoria will exit from the court’s membership which last month issued an arrest warrant against Putin.
South Africa is the host country for the BRICS summit and the implication is that as a member of the ICC, it is expected to act of the arrest warrant by effecting the detention of Putin whose country last year invaded Ukraine in what Kremlin has repeatedly called a special military operation.
South Africa had claimed that it is neutral in the war in Ukraine sparked by Russia invasion but pundits have accused Pretoria of taking sides with Moscow.
“Yes, the governing party… has taken that decision that it is prudent that South Africa should pull out of the ICC,” Ramaphosa said during a press conference co-hosted with the visiting President of Finland Sauli Niinisto.
Ramaphosa said the decision, which follows a weekend meeting of the African National Congress (ANC), was reached “largely” because of what is perceived as the court’s unfair treatment of certain countries.
“We would like this matter of unfair treatment to be properly discussed, but in the meantime the governing party has decided once again that there should be a pull out,” he said.
The arrest warrant against Putin is not unconnected with accusations that the Kremlin unlawfully deported Ukrainian children.
On whether South Africa would arrest Putin, Ramaphosa said “that matter is under consideration”.
But his party’s secretary general Fikile Mbalula earlier declared that “Putin can come anytime in this country”.
“This ICC does not serve the interest of all but the interest of a few,” Mbalula told a separate news conference.
Pretoria has close ties with Moscow dating back decades to when the Kremlin supported the ANC’s fight against apartheid.
South Africa has “adopted this stance of being non-aligned is to ensure that we are able, as a country to play a role in helping conflict to come to an end,” said Ramaphosa.
He said he had spoken to Putin several times and “my message has been clear. There needs to be negotiation”.
It is not the first time South Africa has attempted to withdraw from the ICC.
It made an attempt in 2016 following a dispute a year earlier when then-Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir visited the country for an African Union summit. It refused to arrest him despite the then-leader facing an ICC arrest warrant over alleged war crimes.
The controversial decision to pull out was however revoked when a domestic court ruled such a move would have been unconstitutional.
Earlier this year, it held a controversial joint military exercise with Russia and China, which critics cite as evidence of a tilt towards the Kremlin.
