S. Africa decision to withdraw from the ICC remains, ruling party says

South Africa’s decision to withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC) remains, ruling party African National Congress (ANC) chairperson for International Relations Subcommittee, Edna Molewa has said.

The hard stance position is in tandem with the party’s multiple resolutions reaffirmed during the party’s 5th National Policy Conference held in Johannesburg last month, Molewa said.

The senior politician said this in a newsletter which was released on Friday. The newsletter focuses primarily on local and foreign hot current affairs topics.

The ICC wanted South Africa to arrest Sudanese President Al-Bashir when he entered the country in June 2015 for an African Union summit. By the time he arrived in the country the South African Litigation Centre (SALC) approached the high court for an order that government enforce an ICC arrest warrant on him.

Molewa,who is currently South African Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs, said the court was in essence forcing South Africa to choose between carrying out its obligations in terms of the Rome Statute and arresting a sitting head of state whilst he was attending a summit as a guest of the African Union. A decision which she said had “far-reaching and potentially disastrous foreign policy implications.

“Far from being praised for our efforts to promote peace and stability in the region, South Africa would have been regarded as having been a player in the conflict, with consequences for our peacekeepers in Sudan, and for the country as a whole,” Molewa said.

Source: Xinhua