PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa has congratulated Kenya and others after their election as non-permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) for the term 2021 to 2022.
Joining Kenya at the iconic horseshoe-shaped table in January are India, Ireland, Mexico and Norway. Canada lost out on Wednesday in the other contested seat, within the “Western Europe and other States” group.
“As South Africa’s two-year term will come to an end on 31 December 2020, we will continue to work closely with the existing and newly elected members of the Security Council, in ensuring collective multilateral action to maintain international peace and security,” said Ramaphosa on Friday.
The elections took place on 17 and 18 June 2020 in the UN General Assembly in New York.
UN Member States chose the country in a second round of voting on Thursday in the General Assembly, with 192 ambassadors casting their ballots during pre-determined time slots, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The run-off took place one day after elections to select five new non-permanent members to serve on the Council, based on regional groupings.
Both Kenya and Djibouti had failed to secure the required two-thirds majority on Wednesday, or 128 votes.
In the second round, Kenya received 129 votes, and Djibouti 62.
The elected members will replace the outgoing members South Africa, Indonesia, Dominican Republic, Belgium and Germany on 1 January 2021.
The Office of the Presidency said South Africa wished the elected members a successful tenure on the Security Council and assures them of its support in resolving regional and global conflicts, addressing the root causes of conflict and promoting inclusive political dialogue and peaceful settlement of disputes in accordance with the United Nations Charter and International Law.
“South Africa remains deeply concerned about the emergence of unilateralism and its attendant threat to the International rules-based system. South Africa therefore reaffirms the centrality of the United Nations Charter and the primacy of the United Nations Security Council on issues of international peace and security,” it said in a statement.
(Compiled by Inside Politics staff)
