Dustup in South Africa: Putin at BRICS summit – yes or no! (Update 1 & 2)

The lawfare is in full swing in South Africa about Putin’s visit (or not) during the upcoming BRICS summit because of the ICC warrant of arrest against Putin. It is taking a bizarre twist.

An opposition party, the DA (Democratic Alliance) made a representation in the form of an affidavit to a High Court to ensure that should Mr.Putin come to South Africa for the upcoming BRICS summit, he would be arrested.

Cyril Ramaphosa made an opposing response to the DA’s court bid to have Russian president Vladimir Putin arrested in line with an International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant.  The President said South Africa would have problems executing the request to arrest Putin and is aware of the dire implications if the country were to contribute towards his detainment.

Ramaphosa also asked for his affidavit to remain confidential but the first court ruling is that it won’t happen like that.  “The answering affidavit, the replying affidavit, the letter from the state attorney of 17 July 2023 to the applicant’s attorney, and the heads of argument of all parties in the matter, shall be disclosed without qualification by uploading to the digital database of the Gauteng Division of the High Court of South Africa within two hours of granting this order and shall be accessible to everyone,” reads the court order.

The DA’s application to ensure South Africa arrests Putin should he visit the country will be heard on Friday at the Pretoria High Court.

Ramaphosa then said that arresting Putin risks engaging in war with Russia which is true of course, but somehow far off the mark.

That is the headline that the press seized on: “Ramaphosa: Arresting Putin would be a declaration of war for Russia”

These are some comments:

The High Court in Johannesburg has ruled that President Cyril Ramaphosa’s confidential affidavit on Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s arrest warrant be made public. The DA has welcomed the order. @N_Ayanda speaks to DA’s Werner Horn.

Watch: https://t.co/YcMJQrcQLC#Newzroom405 pic.twitter.com/ZUO2pheMJK

— Newzroom Afrika (@Newzroom405) July 19, 2023

In the meantime, organizations such as Amnesty International sense blood in the water and Amnesty, the Media Monitoring Group and Human Rights Watch have applied to join the court proceedings as ‘amici curiae’ or friends of the court and as such they may make their own representations.

Note that the South African government on a past occasion approached the Constitutional Court to end the relationship with the ICC, and the court turned them down. They remain a signatory. How is it that it is somehow impossible for African countries to end this relationship and withdraw?

In the larger scheme of things, this bizarre twist is part of the process to attempt to cancel and contain Russia and to harm President Putin in some way and certainly to reduce his influence.

An overview of the process up to now:

South Africa holds the chair position of BRICS.
They knew full well when they invited the leaders of BRICS countries for this summit meeting, that they are part of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Then, the ICC, also understanding the position, created their warrant to arrest Mr Putin.
South Africa sent a delegation to the US, to explain to them that South Africa is non-aligned. There was not much said about this, so we can assume it was a non-productive event.
Then South Africa started talking to the ICC, but they are getting nowhere which is not remarkable at all.
Then Macron from France asked for an invitation to BRICS and Russia said Nyet.
In the meantime, the BRICS sherpas went on tour to three African countries to explain BRICS and to make more friends one would assume. But they also attended Macron’s Summit for a New Global Financing Pact: towards more commitments to meet the 2030 Agenda.
Suddenly Ramaphosa invites all African leaders to the BRICS summit, which is an important summit as it is slated to deal with new members and the procedure for that. This is despite the fact that the African Union and Russia have a summit arranged for the end of this month and a BRICS meeting could be easily arranged as part of this. I cannot help but see this invite as either a Ramaphosa political move or as a move to destabilize the actual work of BRICS.
In the run-up to the actual summit meetings in August, BRICS is turning quite woke:

The event is expected to be attended by the champions of gender equality and equity across #BRICS and African nations.

@BRICSWomen’sBusinessAlliance #BRICSZA🇿🇦 pic.twitter.com/AcWt4IV8Ob

— BRICSza (@BRICSza) July 13, 2023

And here we are, where the South African political establishment is having a lawfare fight and making political hay about whether Mr.Putin may attend, or not. It beggars belief that this is even a discussion and that the South African courts are going to decide what Mr.Putin can or cannot do.  The sheer disrespect to a leader of Mr.Putin’s stature is unbelievable. How do we analyze that? BRICS is under attack from all directions. South Africa, while part of the Rome Statute cannot host a BRICS meeting in today’s geopolitical chaos and I’ll be very glad when Russia takes over the chairmanship at the end of this summit.

UPDATE 1: as reported by RT

Putin won’t attend BRICS summit – South Africa

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa ©  Pete Marovich-Pool / Getty Images