How the authorities of the Republic of South Africa are trying | South Africa Reports

How the authorities of the Republic of South Africa are trying to "sit on two chairs"

Africa Intel together with Rybar analyzed the situation regarding the situation around South Africa and International Criminal Court.

Yesterday, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that the country plans to withdraw from the Rome Statute, which established the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague.

A few hours later, the ruling African National Congress party said that South Africa was not going to withdraw from the jurisdiction of the ICC, and that the president was mistaken and did not mean it.

What preceded these events?

On 17 March 2023, the Pre-Trial Chamber of the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In August, South Africa will host the BRICS summit. The Russian president is scheduled to participate in it. The South African authorities will have to arrest Vladimir Putin in accordance with their obligations to the ICC.

This situation sparked a lively discussion in the South African parliament. For a month, the ruling African National Congress Party refused to give clear comments, citing the need to work out options to resolve the situation.

The main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, supported by the West, has called on the government to arrest Vladimir Putin as soon as he arrives in the Republic.

At the same time, another major opposition party, the Economic Freedom Fighters, stated that under no circumstances will they allow the Russian president to be arrested in view of "Russia's role in South Africa's struggle for independence."

The South African Foreign Ministry suggested a third way - to introduce a provision into national law that would guarantee acting heads of state immunity from ICC warrants. But no concrete decisions in this direction have been known since the end of March.

Ramaphosa's words about suspending the membership in the ICC did not surprise anyone at first, because South African officials had already explicitly indicated that the Republic would not consider Russia an enemy "at the request of other countries."

A decision to withdraw could spare South Africa from another instrument of political pressure on it and help the Republic to maintain its neutral status amid the confrontation between Russia and China and the collective West.

Since the beginning of the Ukrainian conflict, representatives of the U.S. and the EU have been trying to persuade the South African authorities to take their side.

In addition, given China's influence on South Africa's economy, the authorities in Pretoria somehow have to consider the Chinese position in matters of foreign policy - the PRC invests billions of dollars in energy and logistics projects in the country, and Chinese loans account for about 4% of South Africa's GDP.

And China's attitude towards the ICC decisions became clear after Xi Jinping visited Moscow three days after the arrest warrant was issued.

Finally, the decision to withdraw would avoid tensions in relations between Russia and South Africa, which could further jeopardize energy cooperation between the countries. The authorities of the Republic have high hopes for the cooperation, given the ongoing energy crisis.

However, as we can see, there is not enough political will to finally close the issue, and a situation similar to this one could be repeated with any other president.

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@africaintel @rybar