ICC decision must be for SA not ANC

Two years ago, then international relations minister Lindiwe Sisulu hinted at the possibility that the ANC may reconsider its decision to have South Africa pull out of the International Criminal Court.

Her comments were the clearest indication yet of the enduring divisions in the ANC over what had been one of its most controversial decisions under the Jacob Zuma presidency.

Following a fallout with the ICC in 2015 over Pretoria’s refusal to arrest Sudanese leader Omar al-Bashir, the ANC decided that SA should withdraw as a signatory of the Rome Statute.

The party’s Nasrec conference in 2017 endorsed the resolution despite massive outcry by many South Africans who believed it not only undermined our global standing as an advocate for human rights but that it was against the spirit of our constitution.

The party’s reasoning was unconvincing. It maintained that a number of global powers, including the US, were not signatories to the Rome Statute and most importantly, it believed that the ICC was deliberately targeting African leaders.

While the former is indeed a fact, its relevance to why we as a country signed up to the treaty is unclear. The latter remains debatable, especially considering that the majority of ICC cases involving African leaders were in fact referred to the court by their governments to prosecute leaders who had committed crimes against their own people.

Nonetheless for SA, the question is whether these reasons, even if credible, warrant our withdrawal from the treaty. At the weekend, the Sunday Times reported that President Cyril Ramaphosa and his supporters in the NEC believe SA should reconsider this decision, especially since the rest of the continent appears to have abandoned this position.

Ramaphosa’s call has typically become the subject of yet another ANC factional fight with secretary general Ace Magashule.

At this stage, it is unclear what Magashule’s reasoning would be for continuing to stand by the proposed withdrawal, other than that it was a conference resolution.

Whatever the ANC decides, it may not trample on our human rights legacy in its quest to stand with political allies who have committed the worst atrocities against their own.