South Africa’s president, Cyril Ramaphosa, caused confusion on Tuesday when he announced that the country would withdraw from the International criminal court (ICC), but then his office retracted the statement a few hours later.
There has been a growing argument within Cyril Ramaphosa’s African National Congress (ANC) regarding South Africa’s membership in the international criminal court (ICC), which intensified after the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Russian leader Vladimir Putin in March, for his involvement in the abduction of Ukrainian children.
However, despite this, Putin has been invited to a summit of the Brics group (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) in South Africa in August, and the Kremlin has stated that Putin will make a decision closer to the time about attending.
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Ramaphosa told reporters on Tuesday: “The governing party, the ANC, has taken the decision that it is prudent that South Africa should pull out of the ICC largely because of the manner in which the ICC has been seen to be dealing with these types of problems.”
A few hours later, the president’s office corrected the announcement by stating that South Africa is still a member of the ICC.
The correction was made because of a mistake made during a media briefing by the African National Congress calling it a “communication error”.
South Africa had started the process of leaving the ICC in 2016, following a disagreement over whether to arrest the former president of Sudan, who was under indictment by the ICC for serious crimes.
While South Africa is a signatory to the ICC’s founding document, it has criticized the court for having double standards.
South Africa started the process of withdrawing from the ICC in 2016. This decision came after Sudan’s former President, Omar al-Bashir, visited South Africa a year before, despite being wanted by the ICC for war crimes.
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Although the ICC had issued an arrest warrant for al-Bashir during his visit, South Africa did not arrest him.
The decision by South Africa to withdraw from the ICC has raised worries about the country’s stance on international law and human rights.
It may also have broader consequences, as other African countries like Burundi and the Gambia have also pulled out of the ICC. This move may hinder efforts to address human rights abuses in Africa.
The African National Congress (ANC) has previously accused the ICC of being biased against African nations. This is because the court has faced criticism for focusing on prosecuting more cases against Africans than individuals from other regions.
Despite this, some African countries still believe in the importance of the ICC in ensuring accountability and preventing impunity for serious crimes.
