ANC-government abstention from a vote at the UN General Assembly, is a betrayal to South Africans
14 October 2022
This week the ANC-government once again betrayed South Africa’s human rights stance on the international stage. By abstaining from a crucial vote at the UN General Assembly condemning Russia’s sham referendum aimed at the facilitation of its annexation of sovereign territories of Ukraine, the ANC is tacitly supporting Russia’s criminal behaviour.
South Africa’s abstention is despite Ambassador Mathu Joyini’s statement that South Africa considers the territorial integrity of Ukraine sacrosanct and rejected any action of a state which violated the UN Charter. It is clear that our Ambassador to the UN was instructed to represent the interests of the ANC, and not South Africa.
This is another failure in a long cycle of South Africa kowtowing to Putin’s Russia. The hypocrisy of our actions at the UN General Assembly, where South Africa has abstained from condemning any human rights infringements by Russia or China, including in Syria, for the better part of a decade. An analysis by Dr Kate Dent in March 2022 shows the true extent of South Africa’s failure to champion the cause of human rights at the UN. Clayson Monyela’s recent attack on a civil society organisation’s criticism of the ANC’s stance on Ukraine is thus typically reflective of the ANC’s hypocrisy and moral bankruptcy.
With the vast human rights abuses that South Africans have been exposed to in the past, should South Africa not be a champion of human rights instead of an idle bystander while the rights, and lives, of innocent Ukrainians are taken away so callously?
However, it is not surprising: we know that the ANC, through its investment arm, Chancellor House and Chancellor House Trust, has interests in United Manganese Kalahari (UMK), in which sanctioned Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg has significant shares. Not only has UMK made direct donations to the ANC, but the ANC, through Chancellor House’s interest, is set to receive millions in dividends from UMK. Additional to this, the ANCYL sent a delegation as observers and thus tacitly endorsed the referendum, while the entire global community condemned the referendums.
These developments are particularly concerning in the light of South Africa’s election to serve on the UN’s Human Rights Council for a three-year term. The ANC must stop hiding behind faux concerns about conflict resolutions and come clear to South Africans that their stance on Russia is informed by their own narrow financial interests.
ActionSA believes that South Africa must always take a stance in favour of human rights, regardless of who the perpetrators are. ActionSA believes that we have a responsibility to protect the vulnerable. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) verified a total of 6,221 civilian deaths during Russia's invasion of Ukraine as at October 9, 2022. Of them, 396 were children. Furthermore, 9,371 people were reported to have been injured. These numbers are unacceptable and South Africa can no longer stand by and do nothing.
Issued by Herman Mashaba, ActionSA President, 14 October 2022
