ICC WARRANT OF ARREST
Arresting Putin risks engaging in war with Russia, President Ramaphosa warns on national security
In his affidavit responding to the DA’s court bid to have Russian president Vladimir Putin arrested in line with an International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant, President Cyril Ramaphosa 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.
“Russia has made it clear that arresting its sitting president would be a declaration of war. It would be against our Constitution to risk engaging in war with Russia,” said President Cyril Ramaphosa.
“I have constitutional obligations to protect the national sovereignty, peace and security of the republic and to respect, protect, promote and fulfil the rights of the people of the republic to life, safety and security, among other rights in the Bill of Rights.”
In his affidavit, Ramaphosa said the government is obliged to keep confidential how it intends to process the matter.
The affidavit explains that South Africa has initiated Article 97 proceedings of the Rome Statute, which allows for consultation with the court if a problem is identified that could potentially impede or prevent the execution of an ICC request, such as a request to arrest and surrender an ICC suspect.
Read more in Daily Maverick: South Africa now looking to China to host BRICS summit, say officials
Further, he said the DA had prematurely taken the matter to the courts without having clarity about whether Putin will be attending the summit, scheduled for 22-24 August.
“No final decision has been made that he will in fact come to South Africa. As things stand, there is therefore no cognisable legal cause that could ever ground a mandamus to arrest and surrender President Putin.
“Cabinet has determined that the BRICS Summit will be held in a manner that assures that South Africa abides by its international and legal obligations,” said Ramaphosa.
“Discussions are held to make sure that this takes place. An order cannot be made on a speculative basis as the DA wishes. This should be the end of the application as the relief sought is incompetent. But it is necessary to correct the DA on the position of government.”
The president wanted his affidavit to remain confidential but the DA won its bid to reveal the contents of the document. The court said the affidavit could be released by Tuesday afternoon and all other supporting documentation by Wednesday.
“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.
“The applications of the Media Monitoring Group and of Human Rights Watch to be joined as amici curiae are granted. The heads of argument filed by the Media Monitoring Group were considered when granting this order. Human Rights Watch may file heads of argument as indicated in paragraph three of this order.”
The DA’s affidavit
In his affidavit, DA leader John Steenhuisen requests a three-part court order.
The first would be a general declaratory order setting out the government’s obligations under the Rome Statute which governs the operations of the ICC and the ICC Implementation Act – the South African law which domesticates the country’s ICC obligations into its own national law.
Second, Steenhuisen seeks an order confirming that the director-general of the Department of Justice, on receipt of a request from the ICC to arrest and surrender Putin, must forward the arrest warrant to a magistrate.
Steenhuisen also seeks to confirm that the other respondents to his application are obliged to ensure that Putin is arrested if he enters the Republic.
Read more in Daily Maverick: South Africa grants Putin diplomatic immunity for BRICS summit
In May, the government gazetted International Relations and Cooperation Minister Naledi Pandor’s notice for the Diplomatic Immunity and Privileges Act to be granted to all international officials at BRICS-related events in South Africa.
Clayson Monyela, spokesperson for the Department of International Relations and Cooperation, said Pandor’s notice was “routine”, and such notices were issued every time there was a similar international meeting in South Africa.
The notice, signed on 19 May and gazetted on Monday, states that Vladimir Putin and his international counterparts who will be in South Africa will be granted immunities and privileges provided in terms of Section 6(1)(a) of the Act.
However, this will not override the warrant issued by the ICC. DM
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When you visit any country, you should make yourself acquainted with that country’s laws. Like spitting in the streets of China will get you a fine if not arrest. You are not allowed to disrespect the president of Zimbabwe apparently. Or lie on the beach topless in the USA.
In SA, everyone is equal before the law. It says so in Chapter 1 of our Constitution. That goes for Zuma, Donald Trump or putin. Trump says he could shoot a person in New York City and he would not be arrested. It may be so in the USA but not in SA.
Problem for putin is that an arrest warrant has been issued for the abduction of apparently hundreds of thousands of children. It is a valid warrant in SA law. He might not think that is anything in Russia where arresting people because they say the word “war”, poisoning them or throwing them out windows is not a thing. but in SA, they are all extremely serious crimes.
And if Ramaphosa thinks russia may treat his arrest as a declaration of war, then bring it on! What, are they going to park a ship off Cape Town and send missiles into houses in Clifton? Or what, send their wagners over the border and march to the Union Buildings. What a laugh.
Anyway, that coward will never come here because if he does, by the time he gets back, they’ll have a new president and government.
Utter nonsense, Mr President, to even postulate that Putin would declare war on South Africa; apart from anything else, why would he bother, the more so because, with our present rape, murder, and burning of properties and assets, would any of us be able to discern the difference?
Well said. Or maybe what Cyril is really scared of is Wagner mercenaries vs. the SANDF.
Richard you forgot to say that if he doesn’t lock up Putin then we will be at war with the free world
Very simple Cyril. He’s not welcome – and say so.
Agree Chris. Simply ensure that he doesn’t set foot in South Africa and the problem goes away. The DA has probably done the ANC a favour here – they’ve taken the decision out of CR’s hands. Even if he didn’t want the ramifications of a Putin visit before, he probably didn’t want to be the bad guy telling Putin ‘no’ so it was easier to go with the flow. This way, he can blame it on the DA and an independent judiciary.
Agreed!
Putin will be confused!
What is this independent judiciary you speak off. A concept foreign to him.
Agreed.
Time for Rama et al to make their bed. It would be simple just to tell their mate, Vladimir they cannot accomodate him and then leave it at that. He would not come to SA without the certainty. In this, Rama and crew would avoid the whole mess. Instead they divert the narrative and state that theyvwish to avoid a war. Simply tell him that if he arrives his safety cannot be guaranteed. As usual too much cooking in politics, and an avoidance of the straight road. Too dumb to tie the shoes, but not too dumb to get voted in as so called leadership. Man, a sorry story to tell. No leadership to speak of, only filthy uncaring criminals.
Why is it war with Russia? Why not tell Putin that South Africa is bound by the decisions of the International Criminal Court and that if Putin insists on coming to South Africa, South Africa will have no option but to arrest him. It is then Putin’s decision to make and when he is arrested, he will only have himself to blame.
Decisions, Mr Presidents, have consequences.
100%
But the ANC are buddies with Russia, why would Russia want to declare war against ANC? Just wondering.
well the ANC probably has broken most if not all the developmental promises made to Russia by Zuma and Mabuza – especially the nuclear build. So, Putin will certainly show the ANC who is boss, force them to take a side that will alienate SA from the its major trading partners, even incur sanctions. If it is possible to set SA back any further – this will certainly do it!!!
What absolute nonsense!!! Tell Putin in simple terms and language do that he and your party understands that if he comes here, he will be arrested in terms of our commitment to the ICC. It is that simple. He cannot force his entry into this country- SA does NOT belong to Russia. Grow a backbone, Cyril, for once instead of being a spineless and cowardly sop!!!
SA does not belong to Russia yet! But lets be serious if the Guptas could do it, It will be a stroll in the park for Russia. I guessing here, I would suggest CR and the ANC real issue here is the elections, who will fund their campaign and provide those clear IT hacks to control the naritive. Where the very simple answer would be to say no, doing so will likely close doors they cant aford to be shut. So put the blame on others. (No doubt Julius is also singing for his super)
Too true mate, too true!
FFS, Cyril, grow a pair of balls…. We are so tired of this ridiculous tap dancing around the truth. Maybe you should go find a plot of land in Siberia and live out your days with your Russian pals there, OR, be an actual president and do the right thing.
Allowing Putin to come here without consequence risks a whole lot too…
When The Honorable Dalai Lama wanted to come they were quick to accede to China’s threats. Now a murderer and a war criminal whose country doesn’t feature in our top 10 trading countries wants to come they cannot tell him politely that he is not welcomed. Nevertheless, Putin is not leaving Russia, not so soon after they wanted thrown him out. He’s just playing Chess with those fools in our cabinet.
Exactly!
You got that spot on and I would hardly think that Russia would bother declaring war on a country run by our halfwits. For what purpose and to what end. Poor, poor diddums just gets more pathetic by the day.
The biggest risk Mr President,is our collapsing state,a fact the ANC is oblivious of
ANC hogwash being spouted as usual
“I have constitutional obligations to protect the national sovereignty, peace and security of the republic and to respect, protect, promote and fulfil the rights of the people of the republic to life, safety and security, among other rights in the Bill of Rights.” So does this only apply to us citizens when Putin is involved? Because I don’t see very much “holding up the Constitition” otherwise
Absolutely! Ramaphosa lives in a parallel universe, where these flowery rights don’t apply to citizens on a daily basis – ask his SG, who has defended the thugs who beat up those motorists on the highway at every opportunity.
Ramaphailure wants to protect our safety and security, but safety and security goes hand-in-hand with economic security. War with russia is a nonsensical issue since they can’t even win a war on their own border. Their chances of sending an army here and supporting it logistically is risibly low. If we arrest Putin, the rest of the world will support us as they support Ukraine. His army won’t even make it across the oceans to here. But if we fail to arrest him, we lose Agoa, economic security and the goodwill of the rest of the civilised world.
Spineless Rama definitely needs to grow a pair of balls or a spine. He’s made excuse after excuse because his comrade friend Putin has bullied him and he is a pawn in his world domination game. This now comes after the Lady R saga where the evidence is missing and his fake decoy peace mission to Ukraine and Russia. FFS Cyril you really think we are mentally challenged if you expect us to believe these shenanigans. Let someone with a spine take over.
Maybe Ramaphosa was elected because he has no balls or spine – making him a useful idiot for the real power behind the ANC – follow the money!
Spot on!!!
Hmmm difficult decision for Cyrill….tell our biggest Trading Partners to go to hell or pacify an insane bully! Will be interesting to see which he chooses!
It is terrifying to watch Ramaphosa, like a whale, periodically coming out of his clearly secluded warm water and spouting absolute nonsense. He clearly thinks very little of his constituents – the idea that we might actually believe his increasingly delusional nonsense is indicative of his disrespect.
Somone commented about just playing chess …. with parlement .. a game of strategy. Our Government’s greatest weakness is lack of strategic thinking. They often just blow with the wind, or flirt with the devil and get their fingers burnt. Mr President, make the best of the backdoor DA created and exit the Putin hot potato. Just say no.
The ANC only invoke the Constitution when it is convenient for them. (By the way, is there an article in there about war with Russia?? If so, I’ve somehow read over it every time.)
Section 24 is consistently forgotten by this president that is supposedly so concerned about doing things that are against the Constitution:
“Everyone has the right—
(a) to an environment that is not harmful to their health or wellbeing; and
(b) to have the environment protected, for the benefit of present and future
generations, through reasonable legislative and other measures that—
(i) prevent pollution and ecological degradation;
(ii) promote conservation; (…)”
The continued burning of coal for electricity, which pollutes our air with SO2, CO2, and other harmful gases, continues.
The dilapidation of what little public transportation South Africa has continues, giving people little choice but to drive cars, emitting further polluting gases into the air.
The lack of a social safety net means people end up on the streets and burn whatever they can find – rubbish containing plastics and other junk – further deteriorating the air quality.
Every year acres of veld are burned either deliberately by government, or allowed to burn when it set on fire by recklessness – adding many tons of smoke to the air.
President, if you are indeed so concerned about the Constitution, how about you start addressing these things? Or do you only invoke it when it is convenient politically?
Exactly what I first thought – does it really say that in our Constitution that we’re not allowed to go to war with Russia! If so, what a weird thing to say.
“I have constitutional obligations to protect the national sovereignty, peace and security of the republic and to respect, protect, promote and fulfil the rights of the people of the republic to life, safety and security, among other rights in the Bill of Rights.”
Funny, I don’t see our rights, safety and security being protected in my daily wanderings around South Africa!
More pointedly: Cyril, tell Putin that you’re not prepared to risk billions of dollars in trade and industrial destruction just to placate his ego. Either Russia imports a guaranteed US$50bn a year of vehicles, steel, aluminium, wine, fruit and other products from SA for a minimum of a decade to counterbalance our potential losses in the US and EU, or bugger off.
We’re sitting with rampant unemployment, chronic poverty, massive inequality and yet every ANC fat cat with a podium says that we’re prepared to sacrifice trade and jobs for this tyrant? It is the most obvious sign that the ANC doesn’t give a damn about South Africans, especially the most vulnerable, but simply wants to be seen as being Cold War revolutionaries. Puerile, pathetic and quite frankly, given Ramaphosa’s quote above, inviting Putin here is unconstitutional – never mind unconscionable!
More bs – every day the ANC is more like a circus of performing fleas with a lunatic ringmaster
Geographically, that’s not really an issue?
What a great “friend” Putin is to South Africa.
First, he wanted to bankrupt our country by selling us an unaffordable nuclear reactor, and now he’s threatening us with war!
My goodness, but the ANC really does pick wonderful allies.
The ANC must go!
Lets not forget the friendly missiles Putin sent to Ukraine while Cyril was there.
“I have constitutional obligations to protect the national sovereignty, peace and security of the republic and to respect, protect, promote and fulfil the rights of the people of the republic to life, safety and security, among other rights in the Bill of Rights.” Could have fooled me! Would be nice if our president and his party tried to do that every once in a while. Truth is “… to respect, protect, promote and fulfil the rights of the ANC party …”
Come rain or shine, South Africa shall never arrest President Putin. I hope you fellas get it.
Maybe the DA should go to court and have the president held accountable to his statement:
“I have constitutional obligations to protect the national sovereignty, peace and security of the republic and to
respect, protect, promote and fulfil the rights of the people of the republic to life, safety and security, among other rights in the Bill of Rights.”
1) BRICS summit to be held in ZA.
2) Putin granted immunity.
3) DA calls for compliance with ICC arrest warrant.
4) RESULT – Ramaphosa says:
i) the DA call is invalid because Putin may not be in ZA.
ii) arresting Putin would result in a declaration of war with Russia.
Result analysis:
i) makes absolutely no sense.
ii) then why did you decide to have the BRICS summit ZA?
ANC logic: 1 + 1 = alphabet
Ramaphosa’s greatest talent is contorting himself into a pretzel, making totally contradictory statements and expecting anyone to believe it. Mind you, if we’ve been receiving Russian arms, (or were we providing them?) there would be some irony in a war! How many soldiers would Russia have to send to take over? Or would we just continue shooting ourselves in the foot until we no longer have a leg to stand on? Time for the ringmaster to leave the circus – oh wait – who the hell would take over the shambles?
what a sorry state of affairs. indecision is a bore!
Yesterday was the 10 year Anniversary of Madibas death. Our Prez unveiled two statues in his honor & memory.
Even before Mr Mandelas death the ANC were selling our soul, sovereignty & dignity to the highest bidder for party & self gratification.
Zuma departed the scene 5 years ago & nothing has changed cos the party itself is incapable of change. It’s the same incapable, incompetent actors trading the lives & futures of our children for the sake of a memory of the ANC which no longer exists.
There is no wonder our President sought to keep the contents of his affidavit confidential; It is a damning indictment on a Govt which has ‘sold us out’ & everything that Madiba stood for to preserve a rotten carcus that party vultures can gouge themselves on!
Our President & his Party as good as spat on those statues that were yesterday unveiled
May I make a positive suggestion. I suggest that it is time for our President to establish some sort of commission into all the issues surrounding the Brics conference including the arrest warrant for VP. With a bit of luck the commission will deliver its report after the time for the conference and then ……. well just like most commissions ….. At least it will provide employment for someone or two or three or more.
Ramaposer seems to be quite intent on clearing his name and getting ready for elections. Pity he does not have the same energy and interest to help his country.
bruce53,
Our fearless leader, in relation to the Putin matter says he must: “fulfil the rights of the people of the republic to life, safety and security, among other rights in the Bill of Rights.” In this he has completely failed on many levels and in numerous aspects even prior to Putin’s possible arrival. Putin’s threat is an attempt to make SA responsible for him starting a nuclear war and he believes in Ramaphosa he has found a soft target. Just look at how scared he is having Zuma arrested or sorting out all the corruption in his very own Cabinet.
Well, the ANC wanted a deal with Russia for nuclear. Guess something got lost in translation.
What the DA is doing is correct. In the eyes of the law Putin is a war criminal and should be treated as such. Ramaphosa cannot ignore that but as the ANC flout the law on numerous occasions, one should not be surprised at their actions. Also saying Russia would declare war on South Africa is such a stupid statement.
What I want is to read the book written which imagines what would happen if Putin was arrested – it’s probably fair to say that “All hell will break loose”.
Do you honestly think the International Community will stand by and do nothing if Russia does declare war? Look what they’ve done for Ukraine. They will _certainly_ do there utmost to support SA if this does happen.
Furthermore, I would argue, that’s a very unlikely outcome as Russia does not want to bring another country into it and risk escalating the scale of its conflict. If he so much as flies a cessna into SA air space the international community will respond. How will Putin even spin a “declaration of war” against South Africa since he hasn’t even declared war against Ukraine! What kind of “special operation” label will he try and use?
But what’s also relevant is that the US is not a signatory to the Rome Statute so I’m not sure what they will make of us enacting an arrest warrant…
But having said all that… part of me likes that there’s a chance Putin will come to SA as finally the government can no longer sit on the fence with regards to this conflict. Look now, how foolish was the choice to sit on the fence…
What I want is to read the book written which imagines what would happen if Putin was arrested – it’s probably fair to say that “All hell will break loose”.
Do you honestly think the International Community will stand by and do nothing if Russia does declare war? Look what they’ve done for Ukraine. They will _certainly_ do there utmost to support SA if this does happen.
Furthermore, I would argue, that’s a very unlikely outcome as Russia does not want to bring another country into it and risk escalating the scale of its conflict. If he so much as flies a cessna into SA air space the international community will respond. How will Putin even spin a “declaration of war” against South Africa since he hasn’t even declared war against Ukraine! What kind of “special operation” label will he try and use?
But what’s also relevant is that the US is not a signatory to the Rome Statute so I’m not sure what they will make of us enacting an arrest warrant…
But having said all that… part of me likes that there’s a chance Putin will come to SA as finally the government can no longer sit on the fence with regards to this conflict. Look now, how foolish was the choice to sit on the fence…
Quite simple- he will set his IT hackers loose. There is now way in the world this useless mob here would see it coming, let alone prevent it.
Let’s just say we try to arrest Putin. With all his security detail there would be a horrific fire fight & SA security may well come off 2nd best. Realistically while all the comments have merit, this is something that would be very messy indeed.
As an alleged friend of SA he should stay away. He may however wish to make a point by coming, if he was reasonably certain that there would be no incident.
Ramaphosa is gutless and cannot stand up to his probable paymaster!! All part of the NDR!
Mr President, just tell him he’s not welcome. When someone threatens you if you won’t let them into your house, we call that a criminal. Has the ANC forgotten how a criminal behaves? Or is it so used to criminal activities that this conduct seems perfectly normal?
Or are you ANC politicians too busy beating up motorists and stealing money meant for schools and job creation?
I don’t think it’s about war at all. Putin is the ANC’s paymaster and calls the shots.
Frogboiler’s affidavit wheeze will not get him or SA off the hook. He is, effectivly, enticing Putin to join the BRICS jamboree.
Only if he speaks truth to power and tells Putin he cannot step foot in SA whilst he is a fugative of the ICC will he save us from the disaster of exclusion from AGOA.
The government tried the Article 97 dodge with Bashir and the ICC’s response was to say there is no problem. You are obligated to arrest.
Neutrality with respect to war crimes is complicity. Did the ANC accept neutrality with respect to its conflict with apartheid? Would they have accepted an external party arguing for peace without removing the crime of apartheid? So why should Ukraine accept peace on terms that do not start from Russia removing itself from Ukraine?
If Putin is threatening us with war, that is a pretty good reason not to see him as a friendly party.
Here is Article 97 of the Rome Statute for reference (buried deep in the affidavit):
Article 97 Consultations
Where a State Party receives a request under this Part in relation to which it identifies problems which may impede or prevent the execution of the request, that State shall consult with the Court without delay in order to resolve the matter. Such problems may include, inter alia:
(a) Insufficient information to execute the request;
(b) In the case of a request for surrender, the fact that despite best efforts, the person sought cannot be
located or that the investigation conducted has determined that the person in the requested State is
clearly not the person named in the warrant; or
(c) The fact that execution of the request in its current form would require the requested State to breach a pre-existing treaty obligation undertaken with respect to another State
And sadly this is why the ANC will never be able to fix their mess, they lack pride in the country, pride in their people and pride in themselves. The motto is I have been elected by the people ”TO SATIFY MYSELF AND MY FRIENDS AND IF THE PEOPLE DON”T LIKE SO WHAT WE WILL RULE UNTILL JESUS COMES BACK”. So we few who take pride in our country and want to improve it don’t waste your time complaining because they don’t care.
Absolute, self serving nonsense from CR. And the ANC has the chutzpah to protest colonialism while being colonized by Putin
Ramaphosa and his side kick Naledi Pandor appear to hero worship Putin and his gangsters and will do anything to keep him happy including sending South Africa sliding down a shit chute that will kill our centuries long relationships with the West. This ANC givernment would appear to have no problem saying good-bye AGOA, good bye foreign investment from BMW, VW, Mercedes Benz, Nissan, AB-Inbev, Nestle, Heineken, etc, etc. Ramaphosa and Pandor, SA’s Welcome mat to bankrupt Russian ideology, aggressive war mongering and child abuse. No investment, no new jobs. Maybe just big bank accounts in Moscow for Putin’s political ANC lap dogs?
The ANC/SACP ought to be delighted at the deflection from SA’s morbid state that the whole Putin/BRICS nonsense presents.
On a related note, SA is currently of so little geopolitical significance, that whether Putin is or isn’t arrested would likely not even be mentioned in the overseas press.
What a pathetic, kindergarten standard of reasoning. Thought the ANC and Putin are good friends. But now this dictator is not coming but sends in his foreign minister. Can we arrest him. He obviously supports Putin’s lies and policies. History states that one Von Ribbentrop was Hitler’s minister of foreign affairs. The Allies executed him after World War 2 for deliberately lying about the start of the war and his role in the Holocaust. So may I suggest that Government then arrests the Russian Foreign Minister and hand him over to the International Criminal Court. I am sure the war will end with that very quickly.
I do not believe that Putin was intending to come. He has a collapsing economy, the significant war going with a well supported neighbour and serious dissention in the military. Why would he spend time going to a country with which Russia has very little trade, no capacity to assist his own cause and which can play no influencial role internationally because of its crazy foreign policy? It makes no sense.
This is all more about Putin than our government. He is a coward and knows he is hated widely across the globe. He would never trust us to protect him.
The fact he keeps his political allies on tenterhooks until the last minute is a reminder of how he treats his friends.
He is a mass murder a liar and a dictator. Best he stays in hiding in the Kremlin.
Dear Mr. President. If you’re reading this, please – stop talking. For your own sake. Had you told your parliament that you were going to have a summit with the leader of the opposition on this sticking point early on, on pain of secrecy. You would not have the embarrassment of your entire party leadership, except as you insist yourself shouting about how the Russian president WOULD BE HERE. I for one would respond to Mr Steenhuisen screaming at you to shut your pie hole in parliament, with a “Ja, nê.” Remembering your rather churlish and incredibly indecorous little tantrum when you screamed his name demanding that he stroke your ego by listening attentively? Perhaps you were stroking his, by impressing upon him and the viewers of parliamentary TV that you clearly value his gaze and attention way more than all the senior members of your executive and caucus that sleep through your visits to either house. Keeping your lips sealed, would also remove the opportunity for people like me from tut-tutting and calling into question your intentions and honesty after you proudly, loudly and repeatedly discussed the blind trusts you were setting up, so that you would not be in contravention of the constitution. Because as you have recently avowed in various sworn statements you have no actual management or operational action in any of your businesses – like the Phala Phala game farm. Remember sssshhhhhh.
Give it to him, but whether he will think he did an idiot thing is debatable. The ANC is very arrogant.
Russia claims they never threatened South Africa with war if Putin was arrested.
Will Ramaphosa prove that they lied or will Ramaphosa be charged with purjury?