South Africa would again vote against United Nations sanctions on Zimbabwe if the issue returned before the Security Council during the country’s next term on the body, the foreign ministry said on Tuesday.
When South Africa last held one of the Council’s 15 seats in 2007/08, it blocked sanctions against Zimbabwe over deadly electoral violence.
If the issue arose again when South Africa returns to the Council in January, the country would block sanctions again, foreign ministry Director General Ayanda Ntsaluba told the National Press Club in Pretoria.
“We must be able to distinguish between issues of human rights violations, bad governance and issues that pose threats to international peace and security. All three are different and then should not be conflated,” he said.
“The UN Security Council wanted to vote to introduce Zimbabwe as an issue on its agenda” in 2008, he said. “South Africa would still vote ‘no’ on this.”
Ntsaluba said South Africa continues to oppose “mandate creep”, or expanding the role of the council.
“Issues that pose threats to global peace and security legitimately belong on the agenda of the UN Security Council. Issues of human rights violations belong with the UN Human Rights Council. Issues of bad governance should be dealt with as such,” he said.
South Africa’s last term on the Security Council drew criticism from rights groups that the country was betraying the legacy of the anti-apartheid struggle, which was bolstered by international sanctions against the whites-only regime.
In addition to blocking sanctions on Zimbabwe, South Africa also sought to deflect action against Burma over the deadly repression of Buddhist monks in 2007, and tempered criticism of Iran’s nuclear programme. — AFP