Last week, Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Dr Naledi Pandor divulged that that Putin had been formally invited to attend the 15th BRICS summit scheduled for South Africa in August. However, the matter has become a headache for Pretoria after the ICC issued a warrant of arrest for the Russian leader. The ICC, which South Africa is a signatory to, has issued the warrant of arrest for Putin for allegedly committing war crimes in Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine. South Africa would be obliged to arrest Putin and hand him over if he sets foot on its soil.

As months edge closer before the landmark BRICS summit, ANC national spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri said the party was weighing its options. “The ANC has taken note of the ICC’s decision on Russian President Vladimir Putin and it is engaging its deployees in government to gain an in-depth understanding about the implications of this route taken by the court,” she said. However, Pandor highlighted South Africa’s misgivings regarding the ICC, stating that the court had not been “even-handed” as an arbiter in international affairs.

Naledi Pandor said while she had not said the ICC was “wrong” in issuing the warrant of arrest against Putin, she had deep misgivings regarding the international court’s decision, arguing that the ICC had not been an impartial arbiter on the global arena. “Well, I have not used the word ‘wrong’, but I expressed a view of even-handedness. I believe there are many atrocities that are occurring in the world, and all human beings should be protected - not those living in particular regions or countries,” she said. In the interview with SAfm, Pandor said stemming from the 2015 court debacle when South Africa did not arrest Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir, who had an ICC warrant of arrest against him, Pretoria understood that it had a legal obligation to arrest Putin, in line with the ICC directive.