Pandor paves way for Putin

• Brics attendees to get immunity • DA calls for declaratory order

SA has declared diplomatic immunity for attendees of both the Brics foreign ministers’ meeting in SA starting on Thursday and the Brics annual summit to be held in SA in August, potentially opening the door for the attendance of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The emerging markets bloc of Brazil, Russia, India, China and SA is set to host its summit in Johannesburg at which Putin’s attendance is uncertain after the International Criminal Court issued a warrant for his arrest. As a signatory to the Rome Statute, SA would be compelled to detain the Russian leader.

Department of international relations & cooperation (Dirco) minister Naledi Pandor has invoked section 6(1) of the Diplomatic Immunities and Privileges Act, which exempts diplomats or foreign officials from certain laws and taxes in the country in which they are working.

Dirco’s spokesperson, Clayson Monyela says the issuing of the gazette is “routine” because the department invokes the act ahead of international summits held in SA.

The gazette, signed by Pandor on Monday, also includes diplomatic immunity for attendees of the two-day Brics foreign ministers’ meeting, starting on Thursday. Russia has confirmed that its foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov will be in attendance.

If SA does roll out the red carpet for Putin in August, the move would in all likelihood further complicate the relationship between Pretoria and its Western trade partners amid growing perceptions that its official pledge to remain neutral on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is only on paper.

Earlier in May, Washington accused Pretoria of providing weapons to Russia in December 2022, raising concerns that the West could hit SA with secondary sanctions. But both SA and the Russian government have denied the claims, with President Cyril Ramaphosa appointing a panel, headed by judge Phineas Mathale Deon Mojapelo as chair.

On Monday, the SA Reserve Bank said any secondary sanctions imposed on SA because of its perceived closeness to Russia will make it impossible to finance any trade or investment flows, or to make or receive any payments from correspondent banks in the US dollar.

“Should this risk materialise, the SA financial system will not be able to function if it is not able to make international payments in US dollar and it could lead to a sudden stop to capital inflows and increased outflows,” the central bank warned in its financial stability review.

“In turn, this could further exacerbate declining domestic financial market depth and liquidity, and further erode investor confidence and sentiment if

considered alongside the FATF greylisting and the country’s inability to arrest the growing prevalence of load-shedding.”

SA has not confirmed whether it will arrest Putin should he arrive on SA’s shores in line with the Rome Statute, but it has set up an inter-ministerial task team, headed by deputy president Paul Mashatile, to consider the technicalities of a Putin visit. Other ministries involved in the task team include state security, the department of justice, the department of correctional services and the police department.

A government official close to the matter, however, told Business Day that the committee is still waiting on the recommendations of a Brics-appointed technical committee to advise of the Putin arrest warrant before the inter-ministerial committee can come to a conclusion.

The gazetting by Pandor of the notice comes as the DA has lodged court papers in the Pretoria high court on Monday asking for a declaratory order that the government is obliged both under the Rome Statute and the act that domesticated it in SA to arrest Putin if he enters SA and that if it failed to do so this would be unlawful.

The second order requested by the DA is that the directorgeneral of the justice department on receipt of a request by the International Criminal Court to arrest and surrender Putin must forward the warrant of arrest to a magistrate. This is a vital step, DA leader John Steenhuisen said, to set in motion the wheels of Putin’s arrest amid fears that the director-general may not fulfil his obligation.

The third order requested is to oblige the police and other authorities to arrest and detain Putin.

In the court papers, the DA says that “the government has created the inevitable impression to the DA and indeed for the country and the world that the government is threatening not to comply with its legal obligation under the Rome Statute and Implementation Act in the supposed interest of diplomatic expediency.”