The ANC contradicted a statement by President Cyril Ramaphosa on Tuesday that the party had decided South Africa should withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The remark by Ramaphosa comes as the country prepares to host a Brics summit in August that Russian President Vladimir Putin has been invited to attend. As a member of the ICC, South African authorities would be obliged to arrest Putin under a warrant issued by the court in March for war crimes related to the conflict in Ukraine.
“The ANC has taken that decision that it is prudent that South Africa should pull out of the ICC,” Ramaphosa said at a joint briefing with Finnish President Sauli Niinisto, who is on a state visit. “That will be a matter that will be taken forward.”
In a statement later on Tuesday after a four-day meeting of its top leaders, the ANC noted a resolution the party made in December to rescind an earlier plan to pull out of the ICC. It also called for greater lobbying for ratification of the so-called Malabo Protocol, which provides for the inclusion of crimes under international law and transnational crimes to be placed under the jurisdiction of a yet to be established African Court of Justice and Human Rights.
ANC spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri, didn’t answer two phone calls for comment.
Ramaphosa’s spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said the president had not said “SA will withdraw from the ICC”, without elaborating. He said he would comment further later.
A statement from the ANC secretary-general’s office on Tuesday night said the national executive committee (NEC) had discussed withdrawal from the ICC, but raised it as a measure of last resort if other options “did not yield desired results of fairness and consistency in the administration of international law”.
“The NEC also discussed options to amend national legislation to domesticate the Rome Statue in a manner that reflects all the articles of the Rome Statue. This includes provision of article 98 of the statue that requires a waiver of immunities for persons charged by the ICC from third party countries where there is no referral by the UN Security Council,” it said.
South Africa drew international criticism in 2015 when it refused to execute an ICC arrest warrant for then-Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir while he was attending an AU summit in the country. Former president Jacob Zuma proposed withdrawing from the ICC in 2016, though that plan was later abandoned.
The government is taking legal advice on how to handle the arrest warrant for Putin.
Asked if South Africa will arrest Putin if and when he arrives, Ramaphosa said: “That matter is under consideration” and a decision will be announced once it has been taken.
Bloomberg News. More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
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