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Carte Blanche

Pandering to Putin

Video
10 May
๐—ง๐—ต๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐˜€๐˜๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜† ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ด๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—น๐—น๐˜† ๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐Ÿณ ๐— ๐—ฎ๐˜† ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฌ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฏ. The ANCโ€™s political allegiance to its Cold War friend, Russia, is causing a political rumpus as a potential visit by Russian President Vladimir Putin forces the South African government to make tough choices. This includes whether it leaves the International Criminal Court (ICC) which may reset its already-damaged global reputation for the worse. The ICC has issued a warrant of arrest for Putin for the kidnapping of thousands of Ukrainian children during the conflict between the neighbours. As South Africa is a signatory to the Rome Statute โ€“ which underpins the ICC โ€“ it would be obliged to arrest Putin if he comes to South Africa for the BRICS summit in August. The Premier of the Western Cape, Alan Winde says he will get his unarmed Law Enforcement Advancement Plan (LEAP) officers to arrest Putin if he strays into the Western Cape, a province under the political control of the opposition. While this throws up the spectacle of the absurd, it has set the cat further among the pigeons, sending the government into a legal huddle as it tries to work out what to do next. Is this political hot potato just one more milestone in South Africaโ€™s slow drift to isolationism, compounded by greylisting, industrial-scale corruption, and clumsy foreign policy? Carte Blanche examines the consequences of pandering to Putin. Your favourite episodes are now available on Carte Blanche: The Podcast: https://linktr.ee/carteblanchetv