Will they go or will they stay? This week South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said he would pull his country out of the International Criminal Court. Then he said he would not. South Africa has had a fraught relationship with the Hague-based war crimes court, and the issue will come to a head in August with a possible visit by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is wanted by the ICC on suspected war crimes.
Ramaphosa said on Tuesday that the ruling African National Congress (ANC) would aim to repeal South Africa's membership of the ICC, which hears cases of war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity.
But on Wednesday, Ramaphosa's office said he had made a mistake, citing a communications error from the ANC.
The ANC had earlier told journalists that the issue of South Africa withdrawing from the ICC had been raised at a weekend meeting of its national executive council.
When questioned by a journalist, Ramaphosa said the ANC had decided it was "prudent that South Africa should pull out of the ICC".
But the presidency said that "regrettably, the President erroneously affirmed a similar position".
President Ramaphosa’s spokesperson Vincent Magwenya just issued a statement that both the President and the ANC SG made a mistake on withdrawal from the ICC. pic.twitter.com/SRPICslqxd
— Aldrin Sampear (@AldrinSampear) April 25, 2023
South Africa will stay in the ICC
South Africa will stay in the ICC, the presidency said, in line with a resolution by the ANC’s national conference in December to drop a previous decision to withdraw.
South Africa had started the process of leaving the ICC in 2016, following a dispute a year earlier over whether or not to arrest then president of Sudan, Omar al-Bashir, who was in South Africa for an African Union summit.
Bashir was the subject of an ICC arrest warrant for alleged war crimes and, as a signatory to the ICC, South Africa was obliged to obey the warrant.
But it refused. It did not arrest Bashir and it started the process of leaving the ICC, which it has accused of holding double standards.
The ANC decided in December to abandon the withdrawal – which was ruled unconstitutional by a domestic court – and instead try to change the institution from the inside.
The presidency said on Wednesday that South Africa would work towards establishing an African continental criminal court that would complement the ICC as a court of last resort.
Will South Africa arrest Putin?
In the meantime Putin, who has been invited to a summit in South Africa of the Brics group of emerging economies (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) in August, is the subject of an ICC warrant issued in March, which accuses him of forcibly deporting children from Russian-occupied territory in Ukraine – a war crime.
Russia denies committing any crimes, and it says the ICC has no authority given that Russia is not a member.
When questioned on whether or not South Africa would arrest Putin if he came to the summit, Ramaphosa said the matter was under consideration.
The ANC’s secretary general Fikile Mbalula earlier declared that Putin could "come anytime" to the country.
The Kremlin has said Putin would make a decision on whether or not to attend the summit at a later date. He has not travelled outside of Russia since the warrant was issued.
South Africa's Russian ties
South Africa and Russia have close ties dating back decades to when Russia supported the ANC's fight against apartheid.
South Africa has not followed other countries in condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, saying it wants to stay neutral and prefers dialogue to end the war.
Ramaphosa said he had spoken to Putin several times and that his message was clear that "there needs to be negotiation".
