Johannesburg - The Minister of Justice and Correctional Services Advocate Michael Masutha has written a letter to the Speaker of Parliament Baleka Mbete notifying Parliament of the Cabinet decision and requesting an opportunity to explain the decision to withdraw from the International Criminal Court, according to the head of the ANC’s International Relations Committee Edna Molewa.
Writing in the ANC’s online publication, Molewa said despite “his very clear signal that South Africa intends to follow the necessary legal procedures of withdrawal, last week’s announcement was predictably greeted with the usual threats of litigation from the opposition”.
Molewa said: “This is in line with the DA’s custom of sacrificing the national interest at the altar of political expediency. In their haste to rush to the courts to challenge any decision taken by the democratically-elected government (within its constitutional mandate) the DA, that wants to co-govern this country through the courts, is filing for direct access to the Constitutional Court: claiming that Cabinet’s notice was issued without a Parliamentary resolution and is thus invalid.”
Molewa added: “The ANC reaffirms its support for the primacy of international law and role of international justice in stamping out impunity for mass atrocities.”
Sunday Independent