South Africa’s governing African National Congress contradicted a statement by President Cyril Ramaphosa that the party had decided the country should withdraw from the International Criminal Court.
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 issued 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.
The statement made no mention of a decision by the party to withdraw from the ICC. ANC spokeswoman Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri, didn’t answer two phone calls when Bloomberg sought comment.
Ramaphosa’s Spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, said by phone the president hadn’t said that “South Africa will withdraw from the ICC,” without elaborating. He said he would comment further later.
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 African Union summit in the country.
Former South African President Jacob Zuma proposed withdrawing from the ICC in 2016, though that plan was later abandoned.
The government is currently taking legal advice on how to handle the arrest warrant for Putin.
Asked if South Africa will arrest Putin if and when he arrives in South Africa, Ramaphosa said: “That matter is under consideration” and a decision will be announced once it’s been taken.
First published in Bloomberg
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