South Africa’s government will provide diplomatic immunity to attendees of two meetings of officials from the BRICS group of countries scheduled to take place in the coming months.
The immunity covers a meeting of foreign ministers from the bloc, which groups Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, who will gather in Cape Town from June 1-2, according to a Government Gazette published on Monday. It also covers and a summit of the BRICS heads of state scheduled to take place Aug. 22-24, the Department of International Relations and Cooperations said in the official notice.
South Africa has invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to attend the BRICS summit in August. Putin is wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges related to Russia’s war with Ukraine and as a member of the court, South Africa would be obliged to arrest him if he attends.