ANC: PUTIN WELCOME

Flashback 2023:

The West loves to put other people in the dock, but immediately when the shoe is on the other foot, they throw a tantrum. A vicious one, for that matter, and you don’t need to look far for examples.

Last year the West warned South Africa was obliged to arrest Vladimir Putin if he turned up at the BRICS summit in Johannesburg. The Russian president has an ICC arrest warrant hanging over him for alleged war crimes in Ukraine.

However, those calls were rejected by South Africa’s ruling party. And their message was eloquently delivered by Fikile Mbalula, the ANC’s Secretary General, during a feisty interview with the BBC. He also pointed out the West’s hypocrisy regarding war crimes.

As it turned out, Putin opted to attend the summit virtually, so the hosts wouldn’t be put in an awkward position.

The saga highlights some truths about the West’s much-hyped commitment to human rights and so-called rules-based order. The same Western countries that clamoured for Putin’s arrest are not interested in the possible war crimes committed by Israel against the people of Palestine. The US, the UK, Germany and other Western countries are all opposed to the genocide case brought by South Africa at the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Could it be the West has lost the zeal for fighting war crimes? Or are they more comfortable with atrocities committed by their allies?