APA-Cape Town (South Africa) South Africa’s Western Cape provincial premier Alan Winde has threatened to arrest Russian President Vladimir Putin if he ever sets foot in his province during the BRICS summit in August.
Putin, who is scheduled to attend the Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) gathering, is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague which has issued a warrant for his arrest.
He is being accused of committing war crimes in his invading of Ukraine on 24 February last year, including the deportation of 16,000 Ukrainian children to Russia.
Winde, a member of the main opposition Democratic Alliance (DA), said his Western Cape provincial Law Enforcement Advancement Plan (LEAP) officers would arrest Putin if he dared enter the province.
The premier criticised the African National Congress-led government for pressing ahead with the meeting despite the ICC arrest warrant.
President Cyril Ramaphosa said his cabinet had not yet discussed the arrest warrant for Putin despite the issuing of his BRICS invitation.
Pretoria said it would make a decision once all BRICS states have confirmed attending summit.
The DA leads the Western Cape’s provincial government.
NM/jn/APA