In his affidavit responding to the DA's court bid to have Russian president Vladimir Putin arrested in line with an International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant, President Cyril Ramaphosa said South Africa would have problems executing the request to arrest Putin and is aware of the dire implications if the country were to contribute towards his detainment.

"Russia has made it clear that arresting its sitting president would be a declaration of war. It would be against our Constitution to risk engaging in war with Russia," said President Cyril Ramaphosa.

"I have constitutional obligations to protect the national sovereignty, peace and security of the republic and to respect, protect, promote and fulfil the rights of the people of the republic to life, safety and security, among other rights in the Bill of Rights."

In his affidavit, Ramaphosa said the government is obliged to keep confidential how it intends to process the matter.

The affidavit explains that South Africa has initiated Article 97 proceedings of the Rome Statute, which allows for consultation with the court if a problem is identified that could potentially impede or prevent the execution of an ICC request, such as a request to arrest and surrender an ICC suspect.

Further, he said the DA had prematurely taken the matter to the courts without having clarity about whether Putin will be attending the summit, scheduled for 22-24 August.

"No final decision has been made that he will in fact come to South Africa. As things stand, there is therefore no cognisable legal cause that could...