Will Vladimir Putin be arrested in South Africa? Here's what President Cyril Ramaphosa said

livemint.com:

Russian president is invited. He was responding to a petition by South Africa’s largest opposition political party, the Democratic Alliance, that asked a court in Pretoria to force the government to arrest Putin if he attended the summit. Putin is the subject of an arrest warrant as per the International Criminal Court (ICC) if he leaves Russian soil.

And since South Africa is an ICC signatory, the country is legally obliged to arrest the Russian president. “Russia has made it clear that arresting Putin would be a declaration of war," Ramaphosa said in his affidavit. “It would be inconsistent with our Constitution to risk engaging in war with Russia," he added in the affidavit.

Ramaphosa argued in his affidavit that South Africa’s Bill of Rights required the government to protect and promote certain rights, including “the right to be free from all forms of violence." “An act that would be perceived as a declaration of war by Russia would be reckless," he added. Ramaphosa joined several African leaders last month in a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv and then with Putin in St. Petersburg, Russia, to discuss a path to ending the war.

Last week, South Africa’s deputy president, Paul Mashatile, said that his country had raised the possibility of holding the summit virtually or moving it to China, but both options were rejected by South Africa’s BRICS partners. Mashatile added that Russian officials have resisted a suggestion of Putin’s foreign minister attending the summit in his place. Putin has been invited to South Africa for the BRIC summit- an acronym for Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, scheduled to take place from 22-24 August.