It was exceedingly strange that two government, or government-related, departments went public this week to show how South Africa is truly caught between a rock and a hard place when it comes to the dilemma of Vladimir Putin.
First, the SA reserve Bank put out an extraordinary series of Tweets outlining the bleak scenarios which could follow this country being placed under US or European sanctions for its position on the Russian president and any failure to execute the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant for him.These, including removal from the world’s main payment systems and restrictions on new investments from the West, could have devastating impacts on our economy.
Then, the department of international relations and co-operation confirmed that, although Putin would be given diplomatic immunity for his August visit for the Brics summit, such immunity would not override the ICC obligations. The public statements by the two institutions may have been a plea to Putin, or our partners in Brics, that our country faces ruin by failing to meet the ICC obligation.