The leaders of China, India, and Brazil were called on by the leader of South Africa's opposition party, Julius Malema, on Saturday to boycott the BRICS summit due next month in solidarity with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who will not be attending in person.

As Putin is the target of an International Criminal Court arrest warrant, it was confirmed earlier this month that he wouldn't participate physically. 

Cape Town opposes how the ICC is operating, as South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa announced in April that the ANC party had determined that the country should quit the international court, "largely" because of what is regarded as its "unfair treatment" of certain countries.

At an anniversary rally for the country's third-largest party, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), Malema urged the other BRICS leaders to skip the August 22-24 summit to support Putin.

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"We call on the president of the People's Republic of China, India and Brazil not to come to (the) BRICS summit in solidarity with President Putin," he said, condemning the US for "threatening" South Africa by demanding it turns against Putin in return for keeping it part of the landmark African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which grants duty-free access for most exports.

As a response, Malema said, "They can take away AGOA and leave us with our sovereignty," addressing over 90,000 supporters wearing the party color red.

This comes after South African President Ramaphosa voiced African countries' gratitude during the Russian- African summit after Russia announced its free grain supplies offer on July 28. 

The EFF was celebrating its 10th anniversary as the flags of the African Union and Cuba hung from the stage. Back in March, the party organized a protest in a bid to force President Ramaphosa to step down for mishandling the country's crisis and economy. 

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