The DA is pressing ahead with its court case about South Africa’s legal obligation to arrest Russian President Vladimir Putin, despite the announcement on Wednesday that Putin will not be attending the upcoming Brics summit in August.
In its application, the DA asked the court to declare that if Putin arrives in South Africa to attend the Brics summit, South Africa is obliged to take all necessary steps to arrest and detain him; that the director-general of justice is obliged “to immediately forward” the ICC’s request to a magistrate; and that the government is obliged to execute an arrest warrant, detain Putin and surrender him to the ICC if a magistrate has so ordered.
In an affidavit to court, filed on Tuesday but publicly disclosed on Wednesday, Ramaphosa said the DA’s application was now “moot” — or of only academic interest.
But DA leader John Steenhuisen told TimesLIVE Premium there were “aspects of Ramaphosa’s affidavit that need to be challenged”.
“The DA wants the court to determine just and equitable relief in light of the president's refusal to provide a clear answer on his duties, including issuing relief to correct his errors of law, and an appropriate order as to all the costs we had to incur. Finally, and most importantly, we would like to try obtain a precedent so that we don’t have to go through the process again in future.”
The DA wants the court to determine just and equitable relief in light of the president's refusal to provide a clear answer on his duties, including issuing relief to correct his errors of law, and an appropriate order as to all the costs we had to incur.
— John Steenhuisen, DA leader
And in a letter to the court, the DA’s attorneys added that two friends of the court had also indicated that in their view relief was required.
In the DA’s replying affidavit, the party’s attorney, Elzanne Jonker, said President Cyril Ramaphosa has “never” clearly stated in his court papers that if Putin were to arrive in South Africa, he would be arrested.
Instead, the president was “equivocal about what the government believes its obligations are, and what it will do”, she said. Because the government had failed to give a clear answer on this score, the court’s intervention was required, she said.
She said multiple state parties to the Rome Statute had publicly committed to arresting Putin. These included Germany, Ireland, Austria, Croatia and Brazil — a member of Brics. “There is no reason South Africa cannot do the same.”
Jonker also said Ramaphosa was wrong to believe government's obligations are only triggered “if” president Putin arrives. South Africa’s government was already in violation of its duties under the Rome Statute, she said. This was because the statute required that, even before Putin sets foot in SA, the director-general of justice is required to take immediate steps: he must forward a request to apply for a warrant either to a magistrate or to the national director of public prosecutions — to which of these depended on the nature of the warrant.
He has done neither, she said. “The DG is, therefore, in ongoing violation of the Implementation Act.”
Jonker’s affidavit was filed in court before it was announced that Putin would not be attending the summit.
The case is scheduled to be heard by the Pretoria high court on Friday. Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and Media Monitoring Africa have been admitted as friends of the court.
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