The announcement of the Cabinet decision to unsubscribe SA from the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, has been met with the expected reductionism in South African public discourse. This reductionism attributes this ICC withdrawal, solely, to the moral and ethical failings of a single individual — Jacob Zuma — and his motley crew. Much as mysticism in the dark ages served as a substitute for rational inquiry, so too in today’s SA, Zuma’s character flaws serve as a substitute for substantive analysis. SA’s withdrawal has to be located within the context of the crisis of legitimacy being suffered by unilateral western multilateralism. This crisis of legitimacy is presaged by western failures such as Iraq, Libya, the 2008 financial crisis, Brexit and the resurgence of Russia as a force in Syria and Crimea. Further this ICC withdrawal has to be located within the context of the emergence of an alternate pole of world power — China. Zuma clearly does not fear global backlas...
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