Editorial: ICC: Decisive leadership needed

Cape Town - The lack of decisive leadership by President Cyril Ramaphosa’s administration when it comes to South Africa’s role in the International Criminal Court (ICC) is further damaging our already tarnished image abroad.

The ICC has issued a warrant of arrest for alleged war crimes against Russian President Vladimir Putin related to the abduction of children from Ukraine.

This has led to calls for Ramaphosa’s government to arrest Putin if he visits the country to attend the BRICS summit later this year.

Ramaphosa told the media that the ANC had decided to withdraw from the ICC for a number of reasons.

Explaining the decision, he said: “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.

“There has been a complaint in the past that African leaders have not been fairly treated by the ICC. Our view is that we would like this matter of unfair treatment to be properly discussed.”

However, the Presidency and the ANC later backed down from comments that South Africa would exit the ICC.

The Presidency released a statement clarifying comments the party’s secretary-general, Fikile Mbalula, had made on the country’s position with the ICC, as well as comments from President Ramaphosa himself.

Presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said South Africa would remain a signatory to the Rome Statute and would continue to campaign for the equal and consistent application of international law.

“This clarification follows an error in a comment made during a media briefing held by the governing ANC on South Africa’s status with regard to the ICC. Regrettably, the president erroneously affirmed a similar position during a media session today (Tuesday),” the statement read.

It is clear that South Africa is caught between a rock and a hard place. While it does not want to be told by the US what to do, it is very concerned about the economic fallout in the event of a withdrawal from the ICC.

However, leadership is about taking unpopular and difficult decisions. If we remain indecisive we risk being alienated by both the US and its allies, as well as the BRICS bloc.

Cape Times