SA sacrificing its principles to belong to the old boys' club

17 June 2015 - 02:10 By The Times Editorial

Indeed, it should get worse before it gets better for us. More shocking details are emerging about the visit of Omar al-Bashir, the fugitive president of Sudan whom we entertained when he attended the African Union Summit last week. Al-Bashir is wanted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity and genocide. The warrants for his arrest were issued back in 2009 and 2010 and South Africa, as a signatory to the Rome Statute, had a duty to arrest him when he landed in the country.But President Jacob Zuma and his advisers wanted to appease their friends in the AU and tried to write new rules as they went along.If we want to argue that the ICC has no right to dictate to South Africa, why then did we not pull out of the international court officially?If the ICC is a front of Western powers, why did we wait for al-Bashir to come to this country to make our opinion on this known?How is Zuma going to explain his actions to our courts after al-Bashir, in defiance of a Pretoria court order, flew out of the country in full view of our government? Zuma is said to have reassured African leaders that al-Bashir would not face arrest.Though the government has denied reports that South African peacekeepers in Sudan were "held hostage" while our courts grounded al-Bashir, the reports raise questions about the type of leaders we are dealing with in Africa.South Africa appears to be doing everything possible to join the "African boys' club", which is dominated by individuals who want to die in office rather than allow democracy to flourish.Today we are told of yet another African leader, Paul Kagame in Rwanda, who is seeking a third term in office.Pretoria should not trample on our rights while trying to be part of the "in" crowd.This nation is founded on principles that seek to take human struggle to another level. But Zuma and his crowd are prepared to bury the bar set by generations of freedom seekers...

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