SA seeks transformation of UN Security Council

President Jacob Zuma is urging the UN Security Council to grant two seats to Africa as so many issues in the UNSC directly affect the continent. Image: GCIS

The gathering at the UN headquarters in Manhattan will discuss, among other issues, the crises in Gaza, Ukraine and Syria, progress on the Millennium Development Goals, as well as the proposed post-2015 agenda.

President Jacob Zuma is scheduled to address the summit on Wednesday (24 September).

In an interview in New York last weekend, International Relations Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane expressed Pretoria's unhappiness with the composition and the functioning of the UNSC. She said the UNSC still mirrored the post-World War Two global order and change was needed which was in line with the current global challenges facing all UN member states.

It will not be for the first time South Africa has called for the reform of the UNSC. The body's composition of 15-member states - of which ten are non-permanent, and five permanent - remains largely unchanged. At last year's General Assembly, Zuma challenged the world body to reform and proposed a more inclusive, democratic and representative UNSC by 2015.

SA served two terms on UNSC

South Africa served as a non-permanent member of the UNSC on two occasions in 2007/08 and then again in 2011/12. In that time South Africa played a role in voting on various resolutions but it appears that this has not been enough to strengthen the calls for a permanent seat on the UNSC for Africa.

International Relations Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane claims that the UN Security Council mirrors the post-World War Two period with just five permanent members of the council and says it is time for this to change. Image: GCIS

"When we come back here in 2015 we need to see some progress in transforming the UNSC because we have so many security issues across the globe that need our attention. But we are still using instruments from 1945 to try resolve those issues," Nkoana-Mashabane claimed.

"Yes we should be debating issues around the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) but we should also be hearing a resounding yes to the transformation of the United Nations governing bodies in particular the Security Council," she said.

South Africa is pushing for two permanent seats for Africa on the UNSC, saying this would proliferate the continent's voice on global security issues including those that affect Africa.

"For us, the key for this summit is that the post-2015 agenda will be incomplete if it only looks at some things, but it doesn't say what we do with the untransformed, undemocratic United Nations Security Council representation," she said.

"Africa will go to the debate on Wednesday with a key question on what happens to the MDGs given that the UN is likely to adopt a post-2015 development agenda," she said. Member states are reportedly discussing the possibility of a new set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to complement or replace the MDGs.

"As long as the post-2015 agenda sets the eradication of poverty and sustainable development as one of its goals and there is room for Africa to continue rising, we will support it," said Nkoana-Mashabane, adding that there will not be development without peace.

The General Assembly debate will be preceded by several events, including discussions on climate change and a report back on the MDGs.