In less than 24 hours, the South African authorities announced their intention to withdraw from the International Criminal Court before declaring it a misunderstanding. South Africa is due to receive Vladimir Putin in August, while the Russian President is facing charges at the ICC. South African lawyeranalyses what is fueling this tension within the ruling party in Pretoria and what it may mean for the ICC.
They then came up with a bill which was put before parliament. That bill remained bubbling in parliament for several years, until just in the last few months the ANC eventually said they're not going to withdraw, but rather to work within the ICC, and also to push for the Malabo Protocol [that gives criminal jurisdiction to the African Court of Justice and Human Rights] to be ratified by enough countries so that local criminal justice solutions could be pursued.
Do you see any difference between the situation in 2016 and today's? Or is it exactly the same set of tensions and legal obstacles? We were at one point a leading nation in the fight for human rights. We can't really be regarded as that anymore, given various positions that the government has taken. But up until this time, we've always been seen as a constitutional dispensation that respects the rule of law. So it will be more than just a bag of hot potatoes.