Africa should unite to ensure that it secures the two permanent seats on the United Nations Security Council rather than fighting ”like dogs for a bone that cannot be seen”, Minister of Foreign Affairs Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said on Wednesday.
Addressing a press briefing in Dubai during a tour of the Gulf region, Dlamini-Zuma said South Africa will not engage in mud-slinging but work to ensure that the seats go to Africa.
”It does not matter to us whether the seats go to Egypt and Nigeria or Egypt and South Africa. We must fight for the seats to come to Africa.
Earlier this week, African Union chief Alpha Oumar Konane said Africa has to act in unison or lose its chance to hold veto power at the UN.
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan is considering two competing Security Council reform proposals that would expand the body’s current 15 members to 24.
Under one proposal, new permanent members would join Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States. Under the other, a third tier of nations with four-year, non-permanent but renewable seats would be added.
Germany, Japan, India and Brazil have launched a joint drive for permanent seats, and among African nations, South Africa, Egypt and Nigeria have expressed interest in representing the continent.
South Africa is seen as the front-runner as the continent’s economic giant and key mediator in crises in Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi.
Dlamini-Zuma said even dogs will not fight for bones they cannot see.
”We can only fight for the bone when we can see it. We must fight for the seats to come to Africa, only then can we decide which countries should take the seats.” — Sapa