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President Cyril Ramaphosa was hopeful the controversy around the visit by Russian leader Vladimir Putin for the BRICS summit would be resolved before August.
Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, said there are engagements at various levels over the visit by Putin.
Ramaphosa appointed his deputy Paul Mashatile to lead an inter-ministerial committee to work on various options.
Justice Minister Ronald Lamola confirmed in Parliament this week that they want to bring a bill that would give Putin immunity from prosecution when he arrives in South Africa for the summit.
On Wednesday, Magwenya said Ramaphosa was determined that this issue should be resolved before the summit starts.
He did not want BRICS members to be sidetracked by the ICC when there were matters on the table for leaders of BRICS and countries invited to take part.
“There is nothing in the president’s view that will overshadow the summit and its significance. The president will now allow anything to undermine the intended objectives of the summit. All other issues that you alluded to that may seem to threaten the summit will be addressed and resolved prior to the summit in order for South Africa to host a successful summit,” said Magwenya.
He added that there were engagements and hoped that these would yield results.
“The president is fairly comfortable that these issues will be resolved prior to the summit so that we can focus on the summit,” he said.
He also said Ramaphosa had corrected his earlier remarks on the withdrawal from the ICC
Source IOL
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