Although the Democratic Alliance (DA) welcomes comments made by Department of International Relations Director General Ayanda Ntsaluba, that Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir would be arrested should enter South Africa, the position of the ANC government on the issuing of an arrest warrant for al-Bashir by the International Criminal Court (ICC) remains unacceptable.

The Director General's acknowledgement is important, as it confirms South Africa's commitment not only to the ICC, but also our own Constitution and the rule of law, but Mr Ntsaluba also made it clear that the ANC government opposes the ICC's decision to issue an arrest warrant for al-Bashir. This stance flies in the face of our commitments to promoting and upholding human rights on the African continent.

It is notable that al-Bashir stands accused of being complicit in "murdering, exterminating, raping, torturing and forcibly transferring large numbers of civilians, and pillaging their property". It beggars belief that South Africa would not stand full square in support of the ICC's arrest warrant.

The DA called on July 6th, and again on July 14th, for South Africa to follow the example set by Botswana and Uganda, and refuse to abide by the African Union's unacceptable decision to ignore the International Criminal Court's arrest warrant for al-Bashir. It was extremely regrettable that the South African delegation to the African Union did not recognise that they were adopting a stance in direct conflict with section 231 of the Constitution, which mandates that South Africa is bound by international agreements upon ratification by Parliament.

In the case of the ICC, Parliament passed an International Criminal Court Act in 2002, which binds South Africa to the Rome Statute. It is thus only right that Mr Ntsaluba acknowledged that "(the law) is extremely explicit about what would happen" and that "if today President al-Bashir landed ... he would have to be arrested." But now South Africa must go further, and state unequivocally that we support the ICC's arrest warrant, and will not continue to be complicit in attempts to prevent alleged human rights abusers from standing trial.