ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula has hinted at a rethink of the government's invitation to Russian President Vladimir Putin to attend the Brics (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) summit here in August.
He said in an interview with the Sunday Times this week that Putin “should not feel belittled” if the invitation is withdrawn.
Listen to the conversation with Mbalula:
Speaking exclusively to the Sunday Times on Friday, Mbalula said the country will not undermine its ratification of the International Criminal Court's (ICC) Rome Statute by welcoming Putin and not complying with his ICC arrest warrant.
This, he said, was probably going to be the first time in the history of the five-nation bloc summit that one of its member states didn’t participate in person.
“Russia must not feel belittled if it so happens that their president does not come because South Africa is a signatory to the ICC. It is what it is. They can still participate in the Brics forum and that’s what’s important, so it shouldn’t change anything,” said Mbalula.
“The only point is that it will be the first time that we have the summit probably with one member not present, for whatever reason, but the position we are in should be understood. You do not just change things like this easily because arrangements are made, and logistics are a nightmare.”
Though the government is expected to decide this week, Mablula's remarks signal a possible U-turn in the ongoing saga that has seen deteriorating relations with the West and a fall in the value of the rand.
President Cyril Ramaphosa’s interministerial committee (IMC), headed by deputy president Paul Mashatile, is expected to meet tomorrow to consider the government’s options.
Presidential spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said the government was looking at various permutations of hosting the Brics summit in light of the ICC's warrant of arrest issued against Putin.
“There's been no decision taken yet because discussions are ongoing. The IMC will meet on Monday to further reflect on the issues. Hopefully, it will conclude with a recommendation that will be tabled to cabinet for consideration,” Magwenya said.
“It is unfortunate that there has been a lot of unnecessary hysteria around the matter, which in the interim has threatened the stability of our economy.”
Among the options being considered is for Putin to attend the summit virtually or for the event to be held in a different country.
However, at a briefing on Thursday after a meeting of Brics foreign ministers, including Russia’s Sergei Lavrov, international relations & co-operation minister Naledi Pandor insisted the summit will be held in Johannesburg.
Despite Mbalula’s remarks, there are some ANC leaders who continue to take a hard line that Putin will come to the country and leave without being arrested.
Among the options being considered is for Putin to attend the summit virtually or for the event to be held in a different country
An ANC national executive committee member said: “That thing [arrest] won’t happen. It’s not going to happen. Who’s going to do it? How are they going to effect it? Yes, he is coming. We’ve just done the immunity thing for every person. The ministers are coming here.”
Another ANC leader who sits on the party's subcommittee on international relations said it would be “impossible” to arrest Putin here.
“In South Africa, even though the law does not exist that gives us exemption of not arresting, the element of arresting him is going to be impossible because we don’t want to provoke another country to attack us.
“But we want Putin to end the war in Russia and Ukraine,” the leader said, adding that South Africa was going to argue that the country had decided against arresting Putin to avoid a possible nuclear war.
“Therefore it is in the best interest of peace, and global peace for that matter, because you don’t want a nuclear war to erupt. Not only saving South Africa but the world, which is teetering towards [it],” the leader said.
International relations expert Siphamandla Zondi believes the ANC is preparing the country for the possible withdrawal of Putin's invitation to a physical summit, opting rather for a virtual link or a hybrid summit.
“This was always an option. Since they have not indicated that they wanted to defy the warrant of arrest, we always suspected they will look for an option other than defying the need to effect the warrant of arrest when Putin is in the country,” he said.
“While the process to decide on these options is in progress, Mbalula is signalling that South Africa will not defy the courts.”
South Africa’s constitutional and international obligations require that it arrests Mr Putin
— Mmusi Maimane, Build One SA leader
In March, the ICC issued a warrant of arrest for Putin, saying he has committed war crimes, including against children, in the Ukraine conflict.
As a member of the ICC, South Africa is obliged to act on the warrant if Putin sets foot on South African soil.
In 2015, South Africa failed to comply with a warrant of arrest issued against Sudan's then-president Omar al-Bashir.
Two months ago, the Sunday Times reported that the government and Russia were in high-level talks that could see Putin avoid travelling to South Africa to avert a diplomatic fallout.
The department of international relations is sitting on a legal opinion that says South Africa cannot legally turn a blind eye to the warrant.
The opinion states that the Supreme Court of Appeal's judgment in the Bashir matter created a precedent and compels South Africa to effect an arrest warrant against a head of state when approached by the ICC to do so.
At the time, a senior government official said ongoing talks with the Russians were aimed at convincing them to agree to a hybrid summit, with Putin joining online.
“There is no option not to arrest Putin. If he comes here, we have to arrest him. The only option we have is for him to connect via Teams or Zoom from Moscow,” the official said.
There are fears in the Brics community that Putin’s arrest, should he come here, would overshadow important discussions.
Mbalula suggested the country look at other ways Putin or Russia could participate, hinting it would likely be virtually.
“We will be briefed if they have come to that consideration [to move the summit elsewhere] but all doesn’t seem to be going in that direction.
“We believe as the ANC that the summit should still be held in South Africa and there are many means through which we can get the summit going,” he said.
It would be unfair, Mbalula suggested, for Russia to expect South Africa to act “illegally”. South Africa was “not a rogue state” and couldn't afford to behave as such, he said.
“Government must take South Africans and all of us into [its] confidence; we don’t want illegal things here to happen again and we get to be embarrassed,” he said.
“We don’t want to go that route. We are clear, as the party, that our government must not do things that will be illegal. I think Russia is aware by now that we are signatories of the Rome Statute, and everyone around us knows.”
Russia must not feel belittled if it so happens that their president does not come because South Africa is a signatory to the ICC
— ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula
In April, after Pandor confirmed Putin would attend, Ramaphosa sent a delegation led by his national security adviser Sydney Mufamadi to Washington to smooth the way for Putin’s planned visit in a bid to avoid a diplomatic fallout and risk trade worth billions of rands.
Meanwhile, political parties are joining forces in the fight to stop Putin’s visit.
Build One South Africa leader Mmusi Maimane threatened to take Ramaphosa to court should he not withdraw Putin’s invitation by Friday.
Last Tuesday, Maimane sent a lawyer’s letter to Ramaphosa asking him to confirm if Putin had been invited.
In his letter, Maimane also asked that he either withdraw Putin’s invitation or confirm that he would comply with the ICC's arrest warrant.
If Ramaphosa declines to withdraw Putin’s invitation, Maimane has asked him to provide an explanation.
“South Africa’s constitutional and international obligations require that it arrests Mr Putin. The decision to invite Mr Putin to South Africa without undertaking that South Africa will honour its constitutional and international law obligations to arrest him, is irrational,” said Maimane’s lawyers to Ramaphosa.
On Monday, the DA reportedly filed an application in the Pretoria high court seeking a declaration that the government is “duty-bound in terms of the Rome Statute and the Implementation Act to arrest President Putin upon his arrival in South Africa”.
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