OPINION | Why can't South Africa make up its mind about leaving the ICC? Our country's wavering stance reveals deeper issues within its leadership.
Picture this: A portrait of Russia’s President Vladimir Putin in a restaurant in Kyiv, Ukraine. The International Criminal Court has charged him over the abduction and deportation of children during the war in Ukraine.outh Africa’s ruling party, the ANC, held a national executive committee meeting from 21 to 24 April. One of the resolutions coming out of the meeting was that the ANC had decided to withdraw South Africa’s membership from the International Criminal Court .
In a world that had seen ethnic decimation in the former Yugoslavia, and the 1994 Rwandan genocide, an international remedy was justified, especially if victims of crimes lived in countries where prosecutorial institutions were fledgling or non-existent. Furthermore, the Security Council can refer a situation to the ICC, which empowers the ICC to investigate all four crimes which fall under the Rome Statute, including crimes of aggression, without further conditions. investigateTherein lies one of the main grievances on which the ANC’s stance is based.
Furore: South Africa failed to arrest then Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir when he visited the country in 2017 as the Rome Statute said it should. Photo: Ashraf Shazly/Getty Images However, the ICC did not refer South Africa to the Security Council or to the Assembly of States Parties for censure. With the passage of time, South Africa quietly dropped its intention to leave the ICC. Until now.a press release that read: “Today … Pre-Trial Chamber II of the International Criminal Court issued warrants of arrest for two individuals in the context of the situation in Ukraine: Mr Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin and Ms Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova.
Later on the same day, presidential spokesperson Vincent Magwenya compounded the furore by contradicting Ramaphosa, stating South Africa would remain a member of the ICC and would use its membership to campaign for consistent application of international law. On 27 April, Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni reported on a cabinet meeting convened by Ramaphosa. She confirmed “South Africa’s participation in the International Criminal Court and confirms that we remain a signatory to the Rome Statute” and that the president had configured an inter-ministerial committee, led by Deputy President Paul Mashatile.
This also goes to the heart of whether Africa should leave the ICC to eliminate the awkwardness that comes with indictments of incumbent leaders. As it stands, the ICC, with its flaws, offers some assurance to victims of atrocities. It sounds patriotic to opt for an African recourse for suspected atrocity crimes, but what would happen in the time that such an instrument was under construction?
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