Johannesburg – As the debate on whether South Africa should arrest Russian President Vladimir Putin when he sets foot in South Africa for the BRICS summit in August rages on, it has emerged that in 2018 he enjoyed immunity.
At the time, the rotating summit of the BRICS (Brazil Russia India China South Africa) group was held in Joburg.
The minister of international relations and co-operation was Lindiwe Sisulu and she is no longer a member of the Cyril Ramaphosa Cabinet.
Putin participated in the summit and at the time there was no war between Russia and Ukraine, but only simmering tensions.
The war only started in February 2022 and it prompted the International Criminal Court (ICC) to issue a warrant of arrest against him.
In a notice which was published back then, Sisulu said all participants were granted immunity for the duration of the summit.
“In accordance with the powers vested in me by section 6(2) of the Diplomatic Immunity and Privileges Act of 2001 (Act No.37 of 2001), I hereby recognised the 10TH BRICS Summit to be held in Johannesburg, South Africa from 23 to 29 July 2018 for the granting of immunities and privileges provided for in section 6(1)(a) of the said act as set out in the notice,” reads the notice Sisulu signed on 17 May 2018.
In the latter part of the notice, Sisulu specified that the immunity applied to all participants of the summit.
“In accordance with section 6(1)(a) of the said Act, the immunities and privileges to be accorded to the participants of the 10th BRICS summit for the duration of the summit are those provided for in the 1946 Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nation and the 1947 Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of Specialised Agencies, as may be applicable and for their effective participation in the Summit,” further read the notice.
After Dirco said the immunities did not apply to people who already have outstanding warrants of arrest against them, Emma Louise Powell, the DA spokesperson on international relations and co-operation said South Africa must notify Russia that it would enforce the arrest warrant, should the Russian president attend the BRICS summit in August.
“The DA now calls on Dirco to follow through on its official statement and notify the Russian government, through its embassy in Pretoria, that the South African government will enforce the arrest warrant, should the Russian President attend the BRICS summit in August.
“Dirco was unambiguous on its position, stating that the formalities of invoking the Diplomatic Immunities and Privileges Act for the BRICS summit in August will “not override any warrant that may have been issued by any international tribunal against any attendee of the conference.”
“Dirco’s recognition that the invocation of diplomatic immunity does not override arrest warrants issued by the ICC is consistent with the legal precedent set in 2015 over the Al-Bashir matter,” Powell said.
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