Addressing the media on the third day of the ANC’s national general council on Sunday, ANC NEC member on worldwide relations, Obed Bapela, said the principles that had led the the country to join the court still remained but the ICC that had “lost its direction”.
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“The NGC has just resolved that South Africa should withdraw from the global Criminal Court”, he told reporters.
Bapela said a national interest policy will be tabled in Parliament and will be fast tracked.
South Africa, as signatory to the Rome Statute which created the ICC, is obliged to follow ICC orders.
“South Africa still holds the flag of human rights, we are not lowering it. However other nations come with selfish interests”, he said.
Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, charged with genocide and attempt violations, went to the us in June, but was in fact permitted to leave despite a legal procedure choose to keep him.
“The request was made with a view to assess whether South Africa was in breach of its obligations to cooperate with the Court”, the foreign ministry said in a statement.
Bashir is wanted by the ICC for alleged war crimes related to the conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan.
The government last week asked the ICC for more time to explain why it allowed Bashir to leave.
But South Africa’s withdrawal from the ICC will close the case for good.
“These excuses include that al-Bashir was protected by immunity granted to him by the African Union”.
The commission also called on the ANC Women’s League to recruit younger women. In 2010, a white farmer filed a complaint with the court after high-ranking party members in the ANC youth league sang a traditional liberation song that a few consider an incitement to hatred for its “Kill the Boer” lyrics, referring to South African farmers of Dutch-settler origin.
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South African president Jacob Zuma has also since been seen singing the song at party rallies.
