South Africa would have voted against sanctions against Iran during its last stint on the United Nations Security Council if it had understood the rules better, said Ebrahim Ebrahim, the deputy minister of international relations and co-operation.
He also said that the African Union (AU) had favoured South Africa for another council term because it had an independent foreign policy and was prepared to criticise the world’s great powers.
South Africa was again elected to a non-permanent seat on the council, despite its 20 06-20 08 term being mired in controversy, particularly over its stance on Burma and Zimbabwe, which drew widespread international criticism.
The only other African country with a Security Council seat is Nigeria, whose term ends next year.
Ebrahim, also chairperson of the ANC’s subcommittee on international relations, said in an interview that South Africa would have voted against sanctions against Iran when they were up for discussion at the UN in 20 06.
The council decided to impose sanctions on Iran over its refusal to halt its uranium enrichment programme, which was seen as enhancing its nuclear capabilities.
Ebrahim said that South Africa had tried to water down the resolution, but it had not understood UN protocol, which dictates that if a country intervenes in the drafting of a resolution, it cannot vote against the resolution or abstain from voting.
“We voted for it in the end but we wanted to vote against it. We had to explain this to the Iranians.”
Ebrahim is largely concerned about building good relations with Arab and Asian countries. For this reason he has made several trips to the Middle East since taking up office.
He said that the most important lesson South Africa had learned from its previous stint on the council was that there needed to be better communication, especially between the department of international relations and the ANC.
For this reason, Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, the foreign minister, has gone on roadshows in some of South Africa’s provinces to familiarise the regions with foreign policy, a goal she set herself at the start of her tenure in office.
Asked why the AU had agreed to support South Africa rather than another African state for another term, Ebrahim said: “I guess it’s because the country is in a better place. South Africa has an independent foreign policy — we don’t hesitate to criticise even the big powers. We aren’t under any big powers’ control.”
South Africa’s peacekeeping role in Africa would remain a key issue and Africa hoped to enlist more UN assistance in playing this role, Ebrahim said.
At the ANC’s national general council in September delegates asked that the party’s leaders ensure that when decisions about peacekeeping are made they must be coupled with economic benefits for the country.
Ebrahim said that this would not be a key driver of decisions about peacekeeping, but local business people would benefit from South Africa’s involvement.
“We are committed to peace and security on the continent, but we are also interested in post-conflict resolution. We want to create an environment for the South African business community to take advantage of what’s there.”