Brics: Untangling the Putin mess

When Russian Foreign Affairs Minister Sergey Lavrov arrived at the Twelve Apostles Hotel in Cape Town for the Brics (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) foreign ministers meeting last week, he and his entourage had a heavy security presence.

This clearly highlighted their understanding of a tense situation created by the warrant of arrest issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against their president, Vladimir Putin.

The ICC’s move has put South Africa between a rock and a hard place because it is also threatening to sever ties between SA and the US, which wants Putin to be arrested when he lands in the country for the summit in Sandton from 22 to 24 August.

Hence, the inter-ministerial task team led by Deputy President Paul Mashatile is looking at options to resolve the Putin predicament.

Report

The task team is expected to present a report to Cabinet soon. While South Africa hosted the foreign ministers in preparation for the upcoming Brics summit, a lot of developments took place and the idea of initiating a Brics Plus group (which will include other countries) was on the cards.

The only thing left is the finalisation of the framework that will be used to allow others to join. And such development, doesn’t sit well with America.

Therefore, South Africa has found itself in a tight spot, as it has taken a stance to advocate for a peaceful resolution in this Russia-Ukraine war.

It is expected that Putin would come, while at the same time South Africa is expected to cushion its relations with some countries that are pro-Ukraine in this war.

This leaves the county with two choices: either it allows Putin to attend the summit virtually, or it issues a blanket of diplomatic immunity for Putin and ignores the warrant of arrest.

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Sovereign state

Doing the latter would show that South Africa is a sovereign state. Even though America will be angry, it is unlikely they will pull out all investments because South Africa is their point of entry to the African continent. As much as we need them, they, too, need us.

As we speak, the formation of Brics is gaining traction and a number of countries are showing interest in joining these five regional economies.

Collectively, these five countries are showing profound strength in dominating the global economy in the near future.

Not only is this group battling for a share in the global economy, but it is also a threat to the strength of the dollar.

Brics is advocating for each of these countries to trade with their own currencies, not the dollar. Gone are the days where the US would use its superpower status to bulldoze other countries.

Because now the world is living in a new dispensation where more countries that understand their power in global politics are expanding rapidly.

The world is on a new trajectory and is forging ahead towards multilateralism. This new age allows for no dominant global actor but countries coming together in the spirit of cooperation to solve common issues plaguing the world.

As for doing the former, this will ensure that we keep our relations intact with the West and hopefully Putin will be understanding of our predicament.

But South Africa shouldn’t waste state resources on Putin because it doesn’t have time to arrest a foreign head of state, when it should be busy arresting criminals who are destroying the country’s economy.

However, if South Africa doesn’t want to upset anyone, the best choice will be to change the summit’s venue to Russia or China. Hopefully, the task team will help untangle South Africa from this mess.

READ MORE: Ramaphosa briefs Putin on upcoming African leaders’ peace mission to Ukraine, Russia

-Mthembu is an independent commentator