APA-Pretoria (South Africa) The South African government was forced to make an embarrassing volte-face on Tuesday after earlier utterances by President Cyril Ramaphosa that the country would withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC) over pressure to arrest war crimes-accused Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Ramaphosa told journalists that the African National Congress (ANC) national executive had resolved that the country should withdraw its membership of the ICC in the wake of pressure for Pretoria to arrest Putin when he comes for the BRICS summit in August.
Speaking to journalists following a meeting with visiting Finnish President Sauli Niinistö, Ramaphosa said the ANC was of the view that South Africa should pull out until the issue of biased handling of cases by the global court is resolved.
However, in a statement on Tuesday night, Ramaphosa’s spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said South Africa “remains a signatory to the Rome Statute and will continue to campaign for equal and consistent application of international law.”
“This clarification follows an error in a comment made during a media briefing held by the governing African National Congress (ANC) on South Africa’s status with regard to the ICC,” Magwenya said.
He added: “Regrettably, the president erroneously affirmed a similar position during media session today.”
The ANC executive committee also issued a clarifying statement late on Tuesday, saying “an unintended impression may have been created that a categorical decision for an immediate withdrawal had been taken. This is not so.”
South Africa has recently been in the spotlight over the impending visit by Putin for the annual summit of the BRICS grouping that comprises some of the world’s top emerging economies – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
The ICC wants Pretoria to arrest Putin the moment he steps foot in the country over an arrest warrant it issued in March for alleged war crimes committed during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
JN/APA