On 17 July 1998 a Diplomatic Conference was held in Rome during which the agreements of the Statute of Rome were decided upon. The statute of the International Criminal Court went into effect on 1 July 2002. In total 122 states signed the agreement, of which South Africa, represented by Thabo Mbeki, was the 23rd.

Without going into too much detail, it basically boils down to the fact that the Statute of Rome identifies four core international crimes:

• Genocide

• Crimes against humanity

• War crimes

• Crimes of aggression.

The statute clearly states that the International Criminal Court can investigate any of these crimes

The expropriation of people’s property without compensating them and thereby forcefully uprooting them and denying them the opportunity to sustain themselves, is a gross violation of basic human rights as is internationally recognised.

There may yet come a day when Cyril Ramaphosa stands in the dock for crimes against humanity. Remember, Zuma also thought he would never stand in a dock….

Read the original article on Front Nasionaal SA

South Africa Today – South Africa News