DA pushes ahead with Russian President Vladimir Putin matter
The Democratic Alliance (DA) has not put the Vladimir Putin matter to rest and will continue to seek clarity on the government’s obligations on warrants of arrest issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
This is despite President Cyril Ramaphosa confirming that Putin will not be attending the Brics summit in South Africa in August.
The Russian Federation will be represented by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
The confirmation of Putin not travelling to South Africa came as the DA was headed to court on Friday to compel the government to execute an arrest warrant for the Russian president
In Ramaphosa’s latest affidavit filed on Tuesday, he said the DA’s case was “moot” and must be withdrawn.
Ramaphosa’s affidavit
However, DA leader John Steenhuisen is adamant that there are “aspects of Ramaphosa’s affidavit that need to be challenged”.
“We are continuing with our court case around the ICC and the arrest warrant matter as well as South Africa’s obligations.
“We believe that this is important because there are aspects of President Ramaphosa’s affidavit that needs to be challenged,” Steenhuisen said.
Steenhuisen added that they want the court to determine what he called “just and equitable relief”.
“This is in light of the president’s refusal to provide a clear answer on his duties, including issuing relief to correct his errors of law, and an appropriate order as to all the costs we had to incur.
“Finally, and most importantly, we would like to try to obtain a precedent so that we don’t have to go through the process again in future should there be another instance where an arrest warrant from the ICC has been issued and the person intends to visit South Africa whether it would be an Omar al Bashir, Vladimir Putin or any other person for which the warrant exists,” said Steenhuisen.
In other news – Interesting things to know about actress Sindi Dlathu’s alleged husband, Okielant Nkosi
Well-known South African star, Sindi Dlathu has become the darling of small screens with a career spanning years, she is really that star actress we all love to hate. No doubt she has managed to keep her private life under wraps since her thrust into the limelight, leaving many to guess about her family.
The star actress is best known for her on-screen character of Lindiwe on the Mzansi Magic drama series The River. Learn More
