PENDING COURT APPLICATION TO HAVE PRESIDENT AL BASHIR ARRESTED CONCERNS COMMITTEE

Parliament, Monday, 15 June 2015 – The Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on International Relations and Cooperation, Mr Siphosezwe Masango, has voiced concerns on the court application to the North Gauteng High Court, to force the South African government to arrest Sudan’s President Omar Al Bashir.

“This is an opportunistic act only meant to pit African leaders against each other in the name of international law, but also hijack the vision to have Agenda2063 operationalised. African Union (AU) has serious business to consider including economies of Africa, regional trade integration, infrastructure development, xenophobia, illicit financial flows, and uncontrolled migration,” Mr Masango said.

“The task at hand that ought to occupy Africans is to make Africa a better continent whose place on the global stage is respected. Government should be alert to opportunism by civil society organisations whose claim to legitimacy is to “strengthen democracy by overseeing African governments” while the opposite is true,” he said.

Mr Masango said African leaders appear to be subjected to the International Crimes Court (ICC), and if things continue this way the Committee might have to advise government to re-look its membership of the ICC.

“In fact, it would be best if the entire continent follows suit. Although SA holds international governance structures in high regard, it is crucial that their programmes are not open to sinister objectives and hidden agendas,” he said.

The Southern Africa Litigation Centre brought the application while President Al Bashir is in the country attending the AU’s week-long 25^th Summit of Heads of States in Johannesburg. African leaders are discussing issues hampering development on the continent including women empowerment, immigration, and xenophobia. The meeting also seeks to align these issues with Agenda2063, Africa’s blueprint for development in the next 50 years.

Mr Masango said SA after all valued Africa’s developmental agenda above all else.

Statement issued by Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on International Relations and Cooperation, Mr Siphosezwe Masango, Parliament, June 15 2015