Wednesday, April 26, 2023

South Africa: Backtracks on quitting ICC, blames communications error

(Bloemfontein) South Africa is not planning to quit the International Criminal Court (ICC) as suggested earlier by President Cyril Ramaphosa, his office says, citing a communication error from his ruling ANC party. Hours earlier, Ramaphosa had said the African National Congress had decided to withdraw South Africa from the court, which last month issued an arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“The presidency wishes to clarify that South Africa remains a signatory”

to the ICC, Ramaphosa’s office said on Tuesday 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”. The ICC warrant means South Africa – due to host this year’s BRICS summit of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – would have to detain Putin on arrival.