As a member of the International Criminal Court, South Africa is obliged to comply with orders for the arrest of Vladimir Putin, but the exceptional measure of article 98 admits the presence of the Russian President with the other BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa).
According to the South African Department of Foreign Affairs, "this is the standard with regard to the immunity we make for all international conferences and summits conducted in South Africa".
“The immunities are for conferences and not for specific individuals. They are to protect the conference and its participants from the jurisdiction of the host country during the conference”, reiterates the South African Department of Foreign Affairs.
South Africa has been criticized by Western countries for not condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but what the South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa, repeatedly defends is the neutrality of his country and the entire African continent.
Aligned with almost all African Union countries, Ramaphosa thinks that, with so many problems they already face, South Africa and the African continent can no longer allow themselves to be involved by the West in a war that does not concern them. Hence defending neutrality.
