The Russian president was granted diplomatic immunity for attending a BRICS summit in August, despite being wanted for his involvement in alleged war crimes in Ukraine.
The confusion surrounding Vladimir Putin’s visit to South Africa for the BRICS summit, which brings together the world’s largest southern economies, appears to have been resolved.
In a statement published in South Africa’s Official Gazette, Minister for International Relations Naledi Pandor announced that he had agreed diplomatic immunity to all those attending the event.
According to the Department of International Relations, granting immunity is standard practice at all international conferences and summits in South Africa, regardless of the number of participants.
They claim immunities are for the conference and not for specific individuals.
“These immunities do not override any arrest warrants issued by an international tribunal against a conference attendee,” the department said.
In politics and diplomacy, immunity means being exempt from the laws of a foreign jurisdiction or from prosecution abroad.
Although Putin is a member of the International Criminal Court and subject to its treaties, he would not face arrest while in South Africa.
Several solutions were considered to accommodate Putin’s visit during this crucial event, with South Africa’s ruling party attempting to geopolitically forge its own path and ward off Western influence.
In addition to business representatives, the BRICS summit will also gather the leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – all countries that have opposed the united Western Front against the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine.
In March, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Putin, putting South Africa in an unfavorable position vis-à-vis its Western trading partners.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is expected to attend the BRICS meeting in Cape Town this week and Pretoria is expected to speak again about Putin’s visit.
Lavrov dismissed a suggestion by his South African counterpart that Putin attend the leadership summit scheduled for August virtually.
Russia’s state-run news agency TASS reported that Moscow has no intention of abandoning its plans to attend the summit and fully expects Pretoria to deal with the ICC issues.
In April, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that the ruling African National Congress or ANC party would withdraw from the ICC because “the court is biased in certain situations”.
However, his office then retracted the statement, claiming it was an “error in the comment”.
“South Africa remains a signatory to the ICC, in line with a decision by the ANC’s 55th National Conference – held in December 2022 – to reverse a previous decision to withdraw from the ICC.”
In the past, Pretoria failed to honor its commitment to the International Criminal Court when Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir evaded arrest in the country during Jacob Zuma’s presidency.
The ICC had a standing arrest warrant for Al Bashir.
South Africa’s relations with the US, a key trading partner, have been strained since Pretoria adopted a so-called “non-aligned stance” during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The situation was exacerbated by recent public statements by US Ambassador to South Africa Reuben Brigety alleging that South Africa had sold arms to Russia.