Western Cape Premier Alan Winde has said that if Russian President Vladimir Putin should come to the Western Cape, he would be arrested.
Putin is expected to visit South Africa later in the year for a summit of the BRICS group. A warrant has been issued by the International Criminal Court for war crimes allegedly committed by Russia in Ukraine.
In a statement released on Thursday, Winde said that it was ‘unacceptable and deplorable’ that the South African government had decided to host Putin, and that he would not enjoy immunity in the Western Cape.
‘If the Russian leader sets foot in the Western Cape, we, as the provincial government, will have him arrested by our own Western Cape Government-funded Law Enforcement Advancement Plan (LEAP) officers. If the South African Police Service is not instructed to act, we will’, his statement read.
By doing so, the province would be ‘taking a stand against the brute force unleashed on [Ukraine’s] civilians by Russia.’
In a subsequent interview, Winde reiterated his stance. ‘I am very happy to make it quite clear in this province’, he said, ‘that if Vladimir Putin comes into this province later in the year, I will do whatever is necessary, and we will follow through and make sure that he is arrested and he faces his day in court with the ICC.’
The Western Cape has taken a markedly different approach to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine from that of the ANC, pointedly expressing condemnation of Russia’s actions. The province has also been at loggerheads with the national government over the extent and use of its policing powers.