A Review of South Africa’s Terms in the United Nations Security Council

ABSTRACT

South Africa has served as an elected African member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) three times: in 2007–2008; 2011–2012; and 2019–2020. This article grapples with South Africa’s role as an active, voting participant on the UNSC during its third term, with reference to its previous UNSC tenures. Using a three-step model of voting behaviour analysis, the article highlights aspects of South Africa’s international peacekeeping obligations that interested observers have placed considerable value on, to determine its consistency in acting upon its declared foreign policy. This includes the Republic’s role in bringing the UN and African Union (AU) peace and security structures closer together and its efforts in strengthening the women, peace, and security (WPS) agenda. The study finds that the Republic has consistently built on its memory from its previous two terms, and its failures and successes, enabling it to utilize its third term in the most optimal way possible to meet its multilateral foreign policy goals.

KEYWORDS:

• South Africa
• consistency
• voting
• UNSC
• A3

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 DIRCO, “South Africa’s Vote on Women Peace,” 9.

2 In this article South Africa will be used interchangeably with the Republic whilst acknowledging that at the UN, it is not the state as such but its representatives or delegates who participate. Delegates are the public face of their state at the UN.

3 Ajulu, “South Africa and the North/South,” 51.

4 Landsberg, “South Africa and the Making of the African Union and NEPAD,” 196.

5 Graham, Democratic South Africa’s Foreign Policy, 44.

6 Former Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Lindiwe Sisulu, referred to South Africa’s re-election on the Council as a result of an increased number (183) of Assembly votes as a symbol of confidence in the Republic and a ‘New Dawn in South Africa’s diplomacy’. https://www.gov.za/speeches/south-african-institute-international-affairs-4-apr-2019-0000.

7 In this study, voting behaviour is defined as how a state comes to decide and act and respond to outcomes in its foreign policy practices in terms of its voting. See: Table 1 on the model of voting behaviour employed in this study.

8 Graham, Democratic South Africa’s Foreign Policy.

9 Ibid., 4.

10 De Carvalho and Singh, SA Ends its First Big Act.

11 Riddell-Dixon, “Canada’s Human Security Agenda,” 1067.

12 O’Brien, “New Zealand’s Foreign Policy,” 14–18.

13 DiLorenzo and Rooney, International Constraints, 1.

14 Olsen, “Coherence, Consistency and Political will in Foreign Policy,” 157–71.

15 Reynaert, “The European Union’s Foreign Policy Since the Treaty of Lisbon,” 207–26.

16 Lynch, “The Realism of Russia’s Foreign Policy,” 7–31.

17 O’Brien, New Zealand’s Foreign Policy.

18 Bow, “Paradigms and Paradoxes,” 371–80.

19 Chung, “Decoding the Evolutionary Path to Chinese Foreign Policy, 1949–2009,” 175–90.

20 Crossley, “Conceptualising Consistency,” 440–63.

21 O’Brien, New Zealand’s Foreign Policy.

22 Nathan, “Consistency and Inconsistencies,” 361–72.

23 Nathan, “Consistency and Inconsistencies.”

24 Nathan, “Consistency and Inconsistencies,” 366.

25 Ibid., 369.

26 Makhura, “Consistency and Inconsistency,” 1–9.

27 Rapanyane contends that South Africa is flip-flopping over its foreign policy stance on Israel and creating uncertainties in its position when on the one hand South Africa condemns Israeli aggression in Palestine, whilst also continuing to enjoy economic engagement with Israel. This adds to the discussion on how to reconcile national economic interests with global political perceptions and interpretations of government declarations on widely-debated topics.

28 Graham, Democratic South Africa’s Foreign Policy.

29 Ibid.

30 Farrall and others, “Elected Member Influence,” 101–15.

31 Pay and Postolski, “Power and Diplomacy in the United Nations Security Council,” 1–17.

32 Graham, South Africa’s Voting Behaviour in the United Nations, 1994–2008, 9

33 Ethics approval was obtained through the Faculty of Humanities, Research Ethics Committee, Ethics number: REC-01-035-2022. The interviewee has signed the informed consent letter. Thank you to the senior South African UN diplomat for their availability and for the conversations on this topic.

34 Ibid.

35 Riddell-Dixon, “Canada’s Human Security Agenda,” 1067–92.

36 Graham, South Africa’s Voting Behaviour in the United Nations, 1994–2008.

37 For more detail on Tables 1 and 2, see Graham, South Africa’s Voting Behaviour in the United Nations, 1994–2008 and Graham, Democratic South Africa’s Foreign Policy.

38 Ramaphosa, “State of the Nation Address.”

39 During its first term on the Council, the theme of South Africa’s presidency in March 2007 (and again in April 2008) was ‘the relationship between the UN and regional organisations’.

40 Interview, South African senior UN diplomat.

41 Ramaphosa, State of the Nation Address.

42 Ibid.

43 Previously South Africa had suffered heavy criticism for failing to vote in favour of a similar resolution in January 2007 during its first term on the UNSC, see Graham, Democratic South Africa’s Foreign Policy.

44 DIRCO Strategic Plan 2020–2025, 2020.

45 Quoted in Fabricius, “South Africa will reverse its vote on Myanmar.”

46 Nthite, “Brand South Africa Welcomes United Nations Peacekeeping Operations.”

47 Sisulu, Keynote Address by L N Sisulu, MP, Minister of International Relations.

48 Ibid.

49 Interview, senior South African UN diplomat. One needs to bear in mind that despite its obligations to other countries, South Africa is elected in its national capacity to the UNSC.

50 After all, of the overall 349 resolutions adopted in 2007 (56 resolutions); 2008 (65 resolutions); 2011 (66 resolutions); 2012 (53 resolutions); 2019 (52 resolutions), and 2020 (57 resolutions), 178 focused on ‘Situations in Africa’.

51 Resolution 1809 (2008), UN Digital Library.

52 Dlamini-Zuma quoted in DIRCO, “South Africa in the United Nations Security Council (2007–2008)”. 2009. http://www.dirco.gov.za/docs/2009/bookletb5.indd.pdf, 6.

53 Ibid.

54 Cyril’s so-called New Dawn was not a sweeping clean or re-birth of South African foreign policy at the UN at all. It was a symbolic attempt for the world to see South Africa in a new light under a new President but the same foreign policy goals were in play. South African delegates had no intention of overlooking the Republic’s previous successes such as this important contribution by Zuma to the Republic’s goal of bringing the Councils closer together.

55 S/PV.6702, UN Digital Library.

56 Mbete, “Disrupted World Order Brings Urgency.”

57 Fabricius. “SA Returns to the UN Security Council.”

58 Ibid.

59 S/2007/347, UN Digital Library.

60 S/2007/421, 2007, UN Digital Library.

61 Graham, “Advancing African Interests at the UN,” 18–3.

62 De Carvalho and Singh, SA Ends its First Big Act.

63 Germany had led very difficult negotiations on the WPS agenda in April 2019.

64 Fleshman, “Tough Line on Peacekeepers Abuses.”

65 And the situation in Abyei (a contested area between Sudan and South Sudan).

66 An abstention refer to a delegation’s deliberate action to decline to vote for or against a resolution.

67 UN Digital Library, 2021.

68 Interview, Senior South African UN diplomat.

69 S/PV.8651, UN Digital Library.

70 Spain is not a permanent member of the UNSC.

71 S/PV.8518, UN Digital Library.

72 Interview, South African senior UN diplomat.

73 Ibid.

74 S/PV.8536, UN Digital Library.

75 S/PV.8649, UN Digital Library.

76 Security Council Report, 2019.

77 Interview, South African senior UN diplomat.

78 Ibid.

79 Ibid.

80 Ibid.

81 This is aside from the normal monthly obligation that a member of the A3 has in briefing the larger Africa Group in the UNGA on the work of the UNSC. Interview, South African senior UN diplomat.

82 Ibid.

83 Ibid.

84 In metaphoric language the Ambassador is the coach on the side-lines of a football match and the political coordinator is the captain on the field, Ibid.

85 Ibid.

86 Ibid.

87 Ibid.

88 Another potentially influential group within the UNSC is the non-aligned movement (NAM). If seven NAM members vote against a resolution, then despite any efforts on behalf of the Permanent-5 (P5), the resolution will be vetoed, in accordance with the rule that nine positive votes are required for a resolution to pass. See Mathur, “The Non-Aligned Movement.” Nta: I am not sure this is clear, please clarify, how.

89 International Crisis Group, The Price of Peace.

90 Resolution 1809(2008), UN Digital Library.

91 Ibid.

92 Ibid.

93 De Carvalho, SA Proves its Mettle.

94 In October 2021, the PSC had reached a consensus on a common African position on ‘preparing a revised draft United Nations (UN) Security Council resolution on accessing UN-assessed contributions by the AU’ (see PSC Report, 2022).

95 UN document S/2020/1292, 2020, 3.

96 Ibid.

97 DIRCO, “South Africa’s Vote on Women Peace and Security.”

98 Martin Fröhlich Masculinities in Peacekeeping Limits and Transformations of UNSCR1325 in; DiLorenzo and Rooney, “International Constraints, Political Turnover,” 1–25.

99 Ford, “Russia Loses UN Vote Over Women’s Rights.”

100 Ibid.

101 Carvalho and Singh, Lessons from South Africa’s Term.

102 Interview, South African Senior UN Diplomat.

103 De Carvalho and Singh, SA Ends its First Big Act.

104 Sisulu, Keynote Address.

105 Interview, South African UN Senior Diplomat.

106 Sisulu, Keynote Address.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Suzanne Graham

Suzanne Graham is an Associate Professor in the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa.