LISTEN: SA's ICC withdrawal 'unconstitutional and invalid'
The North Gauteng High Court has ruled that government's decision to withdraw from the International Criminal Court was unconstitutional and invalid.
Deputy Judge President, Phineas Mojapelo, ordered President Jacob Zuma and the ministers of Justice and International Relations to withdraw the notice of withdrawal.
South Africa began the process of withdrawing from the ICC in October 2016 - following the Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir controversy.
At the time, Justice Minister Michael Masutha said that South Africa had initiated the process of withdrawing from the ICC by notifying the United Nations of its intention to revoke its ratification of the Rome Statute - the ICC's founding treaty.
South Africa failed to arrest al-Bashir during a visit to the country for an African Union summit in 2015 - despite a arrest warrant issued by the ICC over charges of war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity.
In 2016, the Democratic Alliance argued that SA's decision to retract its membership from the ICC was unlawful, and could not be remedied after the fact.
The opposition party also questioned why the executive did not take more time with the process - before officially withdrawing from the ICC.
However, the ruling party welcomed the withdrawal decision - saying it was long overdue.