The upcoming Cabinet meeting will reportedly address two topics: the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) arrest warrant for President Putin, and his scheduled visit to South Africa in August

The Department of International Relations and Co-operation has compiled legal guidance on the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Russian President Vladimir Putin for alleged war crimes in Ukraine. The Cabinet is expected to review this guidance, as it may impact Putin’s potential attendance at the BRICS summit in South Africa in August, to which he has been invited as reported by SABC News.

South Africa has previously faced an ICC arrest warrant for a head of state while they were attending an African Union summit.

In 2015, the ICC issued a warrant for Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir for crimes committed in Darfur during the summit.

As a State Party to the Rome Statute, South Africa was obligated to arrest Al-Bashir but contended that it had no authority over the summit attendees.

A human rights organization threatened legal action if Bashir was allowed to attend and brought a case to the North Gauteng High Court.

However, before the court could rule, Bashir left the country.

The court later ruled that South Africa is responsible for cooperating with the ICC, and the government’s challenge to that ruling was unsuccessful.

Photo: Facebook / @Cyril Ramaphosa