President of South Africa breaks his promise to quit the ICC

President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa has walked back comments he made on Tuesday in which he said that his nation would leave the International Criminal Court (ICC), which has issued an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin of Russia.

In a statement released late on Tuesday, the president’s office retracted statements made by Ramaphosa earlier that day at a briefing, claiming he erred in declaring the ruling African National Congress (ANC) will “pull out” of the International Criminal Court.

As Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is wanted by the ICC for war crimes in Ukraine, is invited to a meeting in South Africa in August, his comments aroused controversy.

Pretoria is obligated to detain Putin if he enters the nation as a signatory to the Rome Statute that created the ICC.

However, Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, claimed the claims were false just hours after the president indicated the ANC party would leave the court in The Hague.

In accordance with a resolution adopted at the ANC’s 55th national conference, which was held in December 2022, South Africa “remains a signatory to the ICC,” he stated. “South Africa defied an earlier decision to withdraw from the ICC.”

Magwenya claimed the correction came after the president “regrettably” and “erroneously” confirmed a mistake made at an ANC media briefing on South Africa and the ICC.

According to Ramaphosa, the ruling party has always believed that the court unfairly judges some nations.

The ICC was determined to be unlawful by a South African court judgement, which barred the ANC from leaving the organization years ago.

Putin’s participation at a summit of the BRICS nations—Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa—is still uncertain.

It is far from certain that South Africa would apprehend the Russian president even if he did.

When former Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir visited Pretoria in 2015, the city declined to carry out an ICC arrest warrant.

Moscow, as the head of the Soviet Union, supported the African National Congress party’s fight against the white minority regime of Apartheid and the two sides remain close friends.

While Pretoria has so far refrained from denouncing the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Kiev has backed the ANC’s fight for democracy.