A Pahad: South African Institute of International Affairs

20 February 2007

Ladies and Gentlemen,

As all of us know, South Africa was overwhelmingly endorsed by the
international community to serve on the Security Council from 2007 to 2008. We
have just finished one month of our participation. I must thank the Western
Cape Branch of the South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA) for
inviting me to speak to you today on South Africa's participation in the United
Nations Security Council (UNSC).

South Africa's role in the Security Council has to be seen in the context of
our overall foreign policy objectives. Since our democratic changes in 1994,
our foreign policy has been driven by the strategic objective of creating "a
better SA, a better Africa and a better world," we seek to achieve these
objectives in a fundamentally changed international relations environment which
is, inter alia, characterised by the end of the Cold War and the emergence of a
super power with unparallel economic, military and cultural hegemony.

As the world, including SA, sought to grapple with the impact of these
developments on international relations we were confronted by the terrorist
attack against targets in the United States of America (USA) on 9/11, 2001.
These attacks had a further profound impact on international relations:

In the wake of 9/11, the USA national strategic document (2003) gave warning
that the USA will use its political, economic and military strength to fight
any challenge to its hegemony. Also that it will act unilaterally against any
terrorist organisation, against any state that harbours terrorist organisations
and against any individuals that they declare to be assisting terrorism.

We have entered the period of preventative action, and conceptions such
as:

* "axis of evil"
* "clash of civilisations"
* "rogue states"
* Islamic fascism drives the foreign policy perspectives of many powerful
countries.

Some characteristics of the international environment today are:

* weakening of multilateralism
* no common vision of global security
* disregard of the United Nations (UN) Charter and international law
* unilateral rejection of international protocols
* unparalleled anti-americanism and the consequent rise of terrorism and a
militaristic approach to fighting terrorism.

It is in this very volatile, dangerous and unpredictable environment that
democratic SA has sought to carry out our foreign policy objectives.

We have identified three main challenges:

1. Eradicating poverty and achieving sustainable economic growth and
improving the quality of lives of peoples in SA, Africa and the world. In this
context we have to deal with:

1.1 Globalisation and the marginalisation and growing impoverisation of many
countries of the south, especially sub-Saharan Africa and the growing reality
that many of these countries will not achieve the UN's Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs) target for 2015.

1.2 Africa's response to globalisation

1.2.1 New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD)
1.2.2 Institutional changes
1.2.3 Transformation from Organisation of African Unity (OAU) to African Union
(AU)
1.2.4 Improving the institutional capacity of the AU
1.3 Southern African Development Community (SADC)
1.3.1 South-South co-operation
1.3.2 New Asia-Africa strategic partnership
1.3.3 China-Africa Forum
1.3.4 Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD)
1.3.5 India-Brazil-South Africa (IBSA)
1.3.6 Growing economic power of China and India
1.4 Economic Diplomacy has become a major aspect of our international work,
this, inter alia, demands that we seek to get:

* Foreign Direct Investment
* Market opportunities
* Tourism

1.5 North-South Co-operation

As we strengthen our South-South Co-operation we must seek to intensify
North-South Co-operation. However, even in the interests of the North it is
essential that such co-operation is mutually advantageous.

2. The second major challenge we have identified is peace and security. We
believe that there can be no development without security, no security without
development and any democracy, human rights, good governance without security
and development.

In this context, inter alia, we deal with conflicts in:

Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC); Burundi; Somalia; Sudan; Cote d'Ivoire;
Ethiopia and Western Sahara
Middle East � Palestine � Israel � Lebanon
West Africa � Afghanistan � Iran � Iraq
Balkans - Kosovo.

We also have to deal with the proliferation of weapons of mass
destruction:

* North Korea
* Iran.

Other priority issues are:

* terrorism
* international criminal and drug syndicates
* climate change.

3. The third challenge we have identified is the fundamental transformation
of global governance, political and economical:

The founding fathers of the United Nations identified a set of fundamental
purposes and principles, I quote: "to save succeeding generations from the
scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to
mankind and to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and
worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations
large and small, to establish conditions under which justice and respect for
the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law
can be maintained and to promote social progress and better standards of life
in larger freedom "

These are exactly the enduring values and principles for which South Africa
stands. They are enshrined in our Constitution. Our membership and
participation within the United Nations is therefore premised on reaffirming
our critical support for the work of the UN system as a whole. Mindful of
course of the current global context, of the pressing need to enhance the
authority and efficiency of the UN, as well as its capacity to effectively
address the pressing needs.

Our tenure as a non-permanent seat of the UN Security Council (UNSC) affords
us the opportunity to make a direct contribution to the transformation of
global governance and maintenance of international peace and security.

Under the Charter, the functions and powers of the Security Council are:

* to maintain international peace and security in accordance with the
principles and purposes of the UN
* to investigate any dispute or situation which might lead to international
friction
* to recommend methods of adjusting such disputes or the terms of
settlement
* to formulate plans for the establishment of a system to regulate
armaments
* to determine the existence of a threat to the peace or act of aggression and
to recommend what action should be taken
* to call on members to apply economic sanctions and other measures not
involving the use of force to prevent or stop aggression
* to take military action against an aggressor
* to recommend the admission of new members
* to exercise the trusteeship functions of the UN's in "strategic areas"
* to recommend to the General Assembly the appointment of the Secretary-General
and together with the Assembly, to elect the Judges of the International Court
of Justice.

We are serving in the Security Council during challenging times in global
politics, a time of extraordinary problems and challenges. The need to improve
global governance is therefore paramount. Extreme poverty, global warming, the
protection of basic human rights and the resolution of conflicts through
effective peacekeeping, the need to protect the environment, to deal
effectively with terrorism, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction � are
some of the urgent challenges. Lately, there has been an in creasing tendency
on the part of some powerful and dominant countries to have determined that the
fight against terrorism should be the global agenda's priority. While South
Africa supports the fight against terrorism and proliferation of weapons of
mass destruction, we are concerned at the unilateralist and militarist
tendencies in the name of the global war on terror.

We are also concerned that the fight against terrorism must not be at the
expense of the respect for international law and the protection of human rights
and civil liberties.

As I have indicated, our approach to the issues on the agenda of the
council, is informed by our own foreign policy, which is based on a vision of
SA, an Africa and a world that is prosperous, peaceful, democratic, non-racial,
non-sexist and united and a world that is just and equitable.

Sixty percent of the agenda of the Security Council regards African conflict
and post conflict issues. We will be serving in the Security Council at a time
when it is seized issues which include Western Sahara, Liberia, Sierra Leone,
Cote d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Sudan, Somalia and
Ethiopia and Eritrea. We see our membership of the Security Council therefore
allowing us to enhance the role that we are already playing in conflict
resolution and peace building on the African continent. In this work we have
been responding to the strong resolve of African leaders, and indeed the people
of Africa, who would like to see our continent achieve peace as a prerequisite
for sustainable development. We intend to work closely with the AU and all
members of the SC, including the permanent five.

Other major issues on the SC agenda are the Middle East:

* Palestine�Israel conflict
* Lebanon
* West Asia
* Iraq
* Balkans
* Kosovo

Nuclear Non-proliferation
* North Korea
* Iran

Counter-terrorism

As you will recall, these are some of the key issues we identified in the
context of our second challenge and are issues that we have been seized with
since 1994. Given these challenges, the importance of maintaining
multilateralism, has never been so pertinent. The United Nations Security
Council cannot work in isolation.

Harmonisation and synergies between regional organisations and the United
Nations becomes paramount. The work and contributions of the regional
organisations can significantly reinforce the work of the United Nations. If
the Security Council is to make a lasting impact on the African continent we
also believe that we should seek to build synergies between its work and that
of the African Union, in particular its Peace and Security Council.

Chairperson

The reform and expansion of the Security Council remains one of the key
areas that remain outstanding in the reform process. When the former UN
Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, launched the process, he said and I quote:

"We have come to a fork in the road. This may be a moment no less decisive
than 1945 itself, when the UN was founded. At that time, a group of far-sighted
leaders, led and inspired by Franklin D Roosevelt, were determined to make the
second half of the 20th Century different from the first half. They saw that
the human race had only one world to live in, and that unless it managed its
affairs prudently, all human beings may perish. So they drew up the rules to
govern international behaviour, and founded a network of institutions, with the
UN at its centre, in which the peoples of the world could work together for the
common good. Now we must decide whether it is possible to continue on the basis
agreed then or whether radical changes are needed."

As we seek to transform the UN, it is also important that we consider the
importance that the drafters of the UN Charter attached in designing a system
of checks and balances, as they gave different powers and functions to its
different organs. Today, however, we see the increasing empowerment of the
Security Council at the expense especially of the General Assembly and other
organs. The Security Council has tended to encroach on the competencies of the
other principal organs of the UN. It has also increasingly assumed for itself a
legislative and treaty interpreting or amending role.

There is no doubt that this approach also weakens multilateralism in the
sense that other organs and bodies can lose their specialised mandates to the
Security Council. For example, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is
the sole and legitimate body for the verification of nuclear safeguards
agreements and its role must not be undermined or subsumed by the Security
Council.

It is in this context that I want to deal with SA's vote on the UN Security
Council resolution on Myanmar.

Let me say at the outset, we are deeply concerned at the situation in
Myanmar. We will continue to call for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and all
other prisoners and to fight for the restoration of democracy, human rights and
freedom in Myanmar.

The Non-Aligned Countries and the G77 and China have consistently voiced
concern at the tendency of the Security Council to encroach on the mandate of
the other UN entities. Overall the resolution contains issues that would be
best left to the Human Rights Council. Ironically, should the Security Council
adopt this resolution it would mean that the Human Rights Council would not be
able to address the situation in Myanmar while the SC remains seized with the
matter.

The most fundamental reason why we voted against this resolution is that
does not fit with the Charter mandate conferred upon the SC which is to deal
with matters that are a threat to regional and international peace and
security. The Association of South Asian Nations (ASEAN) whom we consult
regularly, have consistently stated that Myanmar is not a threat to regional or
international peace and stability.

This matter would have created a precedence that will be very difficult to
sustain and create challenges for the UNSC in the long run. The Myanmar issue
indicates that we must interact more rigorously and timeously with Parliament,
with political parties, and with civil society on all the issues on the agenda
of the SC, and the Human Rights Council.

Chairperson,

Many people in the world today still live in abject poverty even at the time
when there are enough resources in the world to eliminate it. Whole societies
are not on track to meet the Millennium Development Goals. Estimates show that
at current rates the continent of Africa will fail to achieve these goals
unless urgent action is taken to support the efforts of African governments
towards this end. The UN Secretary General, Mr Kofi Annan, reminded us recently
that globalisation has not been the rising tide that lifts all boats.

Many people are still denied the basic human rights. Some live under the
constant threat of random acts of terrorism. The proliferation of small arms
and other weapons continues to undermine peace efforts around the world. There
is also concern about the proliferation of nuclear weapons.

We therefore need a renewed commitment to the strengthening of a rules-based
multilateral system of global governance based on the democratic ideal.
Multilateralism remains the most effective and efficient system for addressing
global problems. In history no other form of inter-State co-operation has
delivered the same results as multilateralism. Coalitions of the willing on
issues that require collective action have also proved to be short-term
solutions that also lack credibility.

South Africa as part of a group of the majority of countries will continue
to strive inside and outside the Security Council, to ensure that the UN lives
up to its name and has a future as a strong and effective multilateral
organisation, enjoying the confidence of the peoples of the world, and capable
of addressing the matters that are of concern to all humanity. I believe that
failure to achieve these objectives will make our world a very dangerous place
indeed.

Despite its weaknesses I believe that we are better off with the United
Nations than we would be without it. But there are also areas where the United
Nations has come short in serving humanity. These are the areas that will need
to be addressed if the United Nations is to be stronger and more relevant at
sixty and beyond.

As we reflect on the issue of relevance of the UN we will need to address
the power imbalances within the governance of the United Nations. When the
United Nations was created, veto power was given to the permanent five who were
also the victors of the Second World War as well as the Security Council so
that it could preserve international peace and security. This has been one of
the major factors that has defined the nature of the work that the United
Nations does and the way it reacts to crises facing the world.

While the Security Council is mandated by the Charter to act on behalf of
all member states in most cases the special privileges have been used to
advance self-interest. The imbalance in the UN's architecture and power
relations that I have referred to remains one of the central obstacles in its
ability to meet contemporary challenges and the expectations of the peoples of
this world.

Therefore the United Nations, especially its Security Council, needs to be
reformed in order that it can be in a position to address a broad range of
challenges that face humanity. When accepting SA's election to the
non-permanent seat in the UNSC, Minister Zuma said: "we do so conscious and
convinced that the multilateral system of global governance remains the only
hope for challenges facing humanity today."

Kofi Annan, the previous Secretary-General of the UN demanded that we strive
for "a world order in which right is might and not might is right." The
fundamental transformation of the UN institutions especially the SC and a
genuine commitment to the ideals of the Charter is the only way we can respond
to Annan's challenge.

SA will endeavour to meet this challenge within and the outside of the
Security Council.

Thank you.

Issued by: Department of Foreign Affairs
20 February 2007