South Africa may break with ICC: Ramaphosa
President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Tuesday his ruling ANC party had resolved that South Africa should quit the International Criminal Court, which last month issued an arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin. The ICC issued an arrest warrant against Putin in March meaning Pretoria, due to host the Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa bloc summit this year, would have to detain him on arrival. "Yes, the governing party... has taken that decision that it is prudent that South Africa should pull out of the ICC," Ramaphosa said during a press conference co-hosted with the visiting President of Finland Sauli Niinisto. Ramaphosa said the decision, which follows a weekend meeting of the African National Congress (ANC), was reached "largely" because of what is perceived as the court's unfair treatment of certain countries. "We would like this matter of unfair treatment to be properly discussed, but in the meantime the governing party has decided once again that there should be a pull out," he said. The arrest warrant against Putin followed accusations that the Kremlin unlawfully deported Ukrainian children. On whether South Africa would arrest Putin, Ramaphosa said "that matter is under consideration". But his party's secretary general Fikile Mbalula earlier declared that "Putin can come anytime in this country". "This ICC does not serve the interest of all but the interest of a few," Mbalula told a separate news conference. South Africa will still be obliged to detain Putin should he attend the August BRICS talks because it would take more than a year from the date it gives notice for the withdrawal to be effective. The procedure involves "a rigorous parliamentary process, we would still be bound by our ICC obligations for 12 months post communication of our withdrawal," said Nicole Fritz director of the non-profit Helen Suzman Foundation rights group. Pretoria has close ties with Moscow dating back decades to when the Kremlin supported the ANC's fight against apartheid. (AFP)