President Cyril Ramaphosa is sending a delegation to Washington to smooth the way for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s planned visit to South Africa in August, hoping to avoid a diplomatic fallout that could put trade ties worth R400bn at risk.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued a warrant of arrest for Putin, saying he has committed war crimes, including against children. As a member of the ICC South Africa is obliged to act on the warrant if Putin sets foot on South African soil.ANC NEC member, who is also deputy minister of public enterprises, Obed Bapela, has told the Sunday Times the party’s position on Putin was that no sitting head of state would be arrested while in the country.
“No-one has ever done it and I don’t think anyone will ever do it,” said Bapela, who has just returned from a working visit with the United Russia Party, the biggest political party in Russia.
Bapela confirmed the government has sought, among other interventions, international legal experts to advise it about the warrant of arrest. International affairs minister Naledi Pandor says that Putin will attend the Brics summit in South Africa in August. The delegation to the US will be led by deputy international affairs minister Alvin Botes and an adviser in Ramaphosa’s office. The move comes as the West has taken steps to isolate Russia after Putin’s invasion of Ukraine more than a year ago. This week Nato said its allies were “refining” sanctions imposed on Russia to intensify its isolation.
However, the ANC appears determined to deepen its relations with Russia, announcing that the Brics nations’ relationships would now be formed at a political party level. This move, as well as Putin’s visit, could cause a diplomatic fallout with SA’s trade partners, including the US. Pandor told the Sunday Times Ramaphosa will send envoys to the US to “engage and persuade” various stakeholders on SA’s stance.
“South Africa must never be blasé about her interests ... when you have a country which has trade of the equivalent of more than R400bn, you don’t want to lose that. So, yes, the president has decided to send out special envoys.”
They will meet public representatives, leaders in civil rights movements, the South Africa-US business chamber, civil society organisations and leaders in city government, with the view to “engage and persuade” them on South Africa’s stance. Pandor denied relations with the US were strained because of South Africa’s stance on the Russia/Ukraine war.
“What’s important in international relations is that you should be able to communicate your country’s position and not hide from the world, so I have been open and had discussions with US secretary of state Antony Blinken and other colleagues in the US, and we keep this open line.” Presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya would not comment.
International relations expert Siphamandla Zondi believes South Africa’s non-aligned stance, along with other Global South countries, has “annoyed their western partners that do not like being disagreed with”.
“The US has already mooted a sort of penalty for African countries that do not vote with it on Ukraine resolutions. They have sent officials to more than 10 African countries, including South Africa, to persuade, cajole and intimidate them into submission.
“South Africa and Mali are among those that refused to be strong-armed to follow the US policy on Ukraine. The implication is that, as after the US invasion of Iraq and Libya, South Africa-US relations experience a strain. If South Africa sends an envoy to the US, it would be to tell them what Pandor has already told Blinken: South Africa does not support the war and, like other Brics powers not involved in the war, it prefers peace negotiations,” said Zondi.
South Africa must never be blasé about her interests ... when you have a country which has trade of the equivalent of more than R400bn, you don’t want to lose that. So, yes, the president has decided to send out special envoys
— Naledi Pandor
Pandor questioned what she labelled the double standards of the ICC, saying the court had been used to target African leaders, while superpower leaders were not indicted for their crimes.
“The only conflicts that seemed to be an infringement of international humanitarian law were African conflicts, and so wherever there was a problem on the continent, like the situation in Kenya and Sudan with [former] president Omar al-Bashir ... and yet you had the conflict in Iraq but there was no naming of leaders of the US.”
After extensive discussion in the AU, it was found that countries on the continent should withdraw from the ICC. Pandor said the ICC heard the concerns and began to operate in a more objective manner, and the AU saw what seemed to be a turnaround.
“There have been many conflicts all over the world and the most powerful countries are involved but they are not being charged, called up, and they are not members of the ICC and have not signed the Rome Statute.
“The leaders of these huge countries often make the statement that if any soldier in their country is cited and there is an attempt to arrest them, they will never allow it. So suddenly they are all keen when the finger points at Putin but if it’s anyone culpable in their country they will not accept it.
“And so, it’s this double standard that I keep talking about that is our concern as South Africa. We want a world where everyone is respected and treated equally. It can’t be that because I am South African I am treated a particular way but when the same thing is done by Denmark or any other country, then they are treated differently.
“If we are concerned about war and conflict we must be concerned about it whether it’s in Ukraine or Palestine. You can’t be more concerned about it when it’s Ukraine and Palestinian people are being killed and we are just making statements.”
The ANC sent a delegation last week to Moscow, where the countries’ ruling parties decided to form an inter-party forum. Bapela, the deputy head of the ANC NEC’s subcommittee on international relations, told the Sunday Times the ANC is considering amending the Rome Statute, seeking to “domesticate” it.
“The only other loophole that can arise is the amendment of the Rome Statute and obviously there will be those who oppose or support but if the majority support, it will probably be the other way but there is no conclusion; the matter is being discussed.”
This is not the first time the court has put pressure on South Africa to arrest a head of state. In 2015 South Africa did not comply with the ICC’s warrant of arrest for al-Bashir, despite a local court order. Bapela, who led the Moscow visit between March 30 and April 2, said the ANC had received an invitation from Russia’s ruling party to establish the inter-party forum, to be launched in October.
“The United Russia Party had requested a meeting with the ANC and we then agreed to the meeting because we have bilateral agreements with the party as the governing party in Russia. But every time we meet them, they know we will also meet the Communist Party because they supported us during the struggle, so they are our historical friends though they are now in the opposition.”
The inter-party forum has 13 parties, including the Chinese, Vietnamese and Cuban communist parties, Brazil’s Workers’ Party, Zimbabwe’s Zanu-PF, the ANC and others from Asia and Latin America. The ICC’s decision on Putin and the Brics summit’s state of readiness topped the agenda at the meeting last week. Pandor said the government was still discussing the matter.
“President Putin will be a guest of the government, not a guest of the ANC, and I think we must await the cabinet’s conclusive decision on the matter.” She confirmed tabling the matter in the cabinet.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.