Johannesburg — South Africa is grappling with how to respond if Russian President Vladimir Putin accepts an invitation to attend an August summit in the country, despite an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant issued for him. The Hague court issued the warrant on March 17 for war crimes related to the deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia. As a signatory to the ICC’s Rome Statute, South Africa is obligated to execute such international arrest warrants. At the same time, Pretoria maintains a close alliance with Moscow, has avoided criticizing Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, held bilateral talks with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov earlier this year, and hosted Russian warships in February for joint military exercises.
International Relations Minister Naledi Pandor told SAfm that the government is awaiting a refreshed legal opinion before deciding its course of action. “It is a difficult situation, but the Cabinet needs to discuss this,” she said. “Once I have the opinion I will take it to Cabinet, so our actions will be guided by the overall views of government.” Pandor stopped short of confirming whether the invitation to the BRICS summit—bringing together Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa—will be withdrawn. Moscow has not yet confirmed if Putin will attend in person.
Pandor also criticized the ICC for what she called an “unevenhanded approach” to leaders accused of violating international law, accusing the court of focusing on some states while ignoring others. In contrast, Darren Bergman, the Democratic Alliance’s shadow minister for international relations, argued that the government must honor its ICC commitments. “The Democratic Alliance believes the Cabinet should not extend the invitation to President Putin and therefore should withdraw it,” he said. “If they do not, they should be ready to enforce the arrest warrant.”
Steven Gruzd, a Russia analyst at the South African Institute for International Affairs, told VOA that the government has several options: make the BRICS summit virtual, withdraw from the ICC, or seek diplomatic immunity for Putin as a sitting head of state. “We’ve seen this dilemma before,” he noted, recalling the 2015 case of Sudan’s Omar al‑Bashir, who attended the African Union summit in South Africa despite a local court order for his arrest. The order was ignored, allowing al‑Bashir to leave from a military base.
Lunga Ngqengelele, spokesperson for the Department of International Relations and Cooperation, said the Cabinet is expected to discuss the issue this week.
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