The Democratic Alliance (DA) on Wednesday requested that International Relations and Cooperation Minister Naledi Pandor appear before a Portfolio Committee to clarify her position on the recently issued arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin, as well as answer questions regarding reports of Iranian warships docked in Cape Town.

Pandor has confirmed that an invitation has been sent out to Putin to attend the fifteenth Brics (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) Summit in South Africa, in August.

In March, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Putin and his Commissioner for Children’s Rights Maria Lvova-Belova for war crimes. 

With the arrest warrant being considered, the DA expressed concerns over the likelihood of the African National Congress (ANC) carrying out an arrest, especially given the recent comments and postures made by Pandor and the ANC implying that the ICC was biased and had double standards.

The DA said it noted the failures of the ANC to enforce the arrest of former Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir in 2016, following an ICC arrest warrant against him. 

“Should the ANC fail to enforce arrest, it would be the second time that it has failed to execute an ICC arrest warrant,” said DA Shadow Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Darren Bergman.

Details regarding the docked Iranian warships have yet to be publicly ventilated, but the DA highlighted a message sent by the United States Embassy warning “entities and individuals that provide support, including maritime services to designated entities could be subject to sanctions risk under US authorities.”

“It is astounding to note how far the ANC has strayed from a supposed human rights-based foreign policy to one where the protection of Putin and the Iran authoritarian regime takes precedence. Pandor’s defence of the world’s authoritarian regimes can no longer be allowed to continue, she must now account for her disastrous foreign policy stance,” Bergman said.