South Africa backtracks on quitting ICC before possible Putin visit
- South Africa will host a BRICS summit in August that Russian President Vladimir Putin has been invited to attend
- As a member of the ICC, South Africa would be obliged to arrest Putin under a warrant issued by the court for war crimes
South Africa is not planning to quit the International Criminal Court, as earlier suggested by President Cyril Ramaphosa, his office said, citing a communication error from the ruling ANC party.
Hours earlier on Tuesday, Ramaphosa had said his African National Congress (ANC) had decided to withdraw South Africa from the International Criminal Court, which last month issued an arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The ICC arrest warrant meant that Pretoria - due to host the Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa bloc summit this year - would have to detain Putin on arrival.
“The presidency wishes to clarify that South Africa remains a signatory (to the ICC),” Ramaphosa’s office said in a late night statement.
It said the “clarification follows an error in a comment made during a media briefing held by the governing African National Congress (ANC)”.
The ANC had earlier told journalists that the issue of South Africa withdrawing from the ICC had been raised at a weekend meeting of its national executive council.