President Cyril Ramaphosa is hopeful that the controversy around the visit of Russian leader Vladimir Putin for the BRICS summit will be resolved before August.
PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa is hopeful the controversy around the visit by Russian leader Vladimir Putin for the BRICS summit will be resolved before August.
Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, said there are engagements at various levels over the visit by Putin.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued a warrant of arrest against the leader of Russia.
Ramaphosa appointed his deputy Paul Mashatile to lead an inter-ministerial committee to work on various options.
Justice Minister Ronald Lamola confirmed in Parliament this week that they want to bring in a bill that would give Putin immunity from prosecution when he arrives in South Africa for the summit.
On Wednesday, Magwenya said Ramaphosa was determined that this issue should be resolved before the summit starts.
He did not want BRICS members to be sidetracked by the ICC when there were matters on the table for leaders of BRICS and countries invited to take part.
“There is nothing in the president’s view that will overshadow the summit and its significance. The president will now allow anything to undermine the intended objectives of the summit. All other issues that you alluded to that may seem to threaten the summit will be addressed and resolved prior to the summit in order for South Africa to host a successful summit,” said Magwenya.
“With respect to the details around the work of the deputy president, I won’t go into those details at this stage because once all these issues have been finalised, an appropriate announcement will be made. So far, all heads of state have indicated their desire to attend the summit.”
Magwenya added that there were engagements under way and hoped that these would yield results.
“The president is fairly comfortable that these issues will be resolved prior to the summit so that we can focus on the summit,” he said.
He also said Ramaphosa had corrected his earlier remarks on the country’s withdrawal from the ICC.
