Putin will need protection if he attends Brics summit

ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula yesterday said the party had not received confirmation of Russian President Vladimir Putin travelling to South Africa for next month’s Brics (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) leaders’ summit in Sandton, raising questions about whether President Cyril Ramaphosa had persuaded him against making the trip.

As part of the recent African leaders’ peace mission, Ramaphosa reportedly presented Putin with three options: staying away, attending virtually or attending in person, but at another location.

Putin’s attendance has remained a source of controversy after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for the Russian leader for his role in allegedly kidnapping and trafficking Ukrainian children.

Possible arrest of Putin

As an ICC signatory, South Africa has been pondering how to deal with the possible arrest of Putin on African soil. Ramaphosa is confident Putin will attend the gathering, if his latest speech to business leaders is anything to go by.

Reacting to an ANC NEC briefing by Mbalula, independent political analyst Sandile Swana said: “It would be a victory for Brics if all leaders agreed that Putin should attend the summit. They would have to “agree that the Ukraine war is a proxy for western imperialism”.

“Putin coming to SA, would obviously require a decisive back-up – especially from China and Russia, and possibly India.

“I would not think Putin would want the West to dictate terms to him, with the only requirement being China and India saying they should not back down on this one.

“Deploying their own special forces to ensure the CIA does not take chances, will be important if Putin is to come.”

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On the ANC hoping to get “an overwhelming victory in the 2024 elections”, Swana said that was “not going to happen”.

“Statistics on the ground are against the ANC, with one of the provinces they are going to lose being Gauteng due to long-term non-service delivery.

“The Gauteng business community has been hammered hard by the mismanagement of the metros and everything else by the ANC.

“The ANC can only get into power through coalitions, which [Gauteng premier] Panyaza Lesufi is orchestrating.”