Looking back, looking forward: South Africa in the UN Security Council

This research report by the Institute for Security Studies assesses South Africa's first year as an elected non-permanent member of the UN Security Council (UNSC) for the 2019-2020 term. It examines the country's efforts to recalibrate its foreign policy under the Ramaphosa administration, its role in fostering African unity among council members, and its leadership during its October 2019 presidency.

• South Africa's 2019-2020 term on the UN Security Council (UNSC) is viewed as a test of the Ramaphosa administration's foreign policy goals of renewal and recalibration, aiming to restore the country's global and continental influence.
• The country benefited from institutional memory due to having served two previous terms on the UNSC (2007-2008 and 2011-2012), which helped it manage the council's complex processes and workload.
• During the first three months of 2019, South Africa faced bureaucratic challenges, including delayed staffing appointments at its Permanent Mission to the UN in New York, which hindered its ability to engage with the council's strenuous calendar.
• South Africa demonstrated a nuanced and independent foreign policy by moving across entrenched council divisions, such as voting against a US-led resolution on Venezuela in February 2019 while later opposing US requests to exclude sexual and reproductive health language in a resolution on sexual violence in conflict in April 2019.
• South Africa played a leading role in improving the cohesion of the A3 (the three elected African member states on the UNSC), notably by championing a unified African front regarding political developments in Sudan in June 2019.
• A major achievement of South Africa's October 2019 presidency was the unanimous adoption of Resolution 2493 (2019) on Women, Peace and Security (WPS), which the country pursued despite the risk of opposition from the US, Russia, and China.
• South Africa's October 2019 presidency focused on African peace and security, including debates on the Youth, Peace and Security (YPS) agenda and the AU's 'Silencing the Guns' initiative, as well as a field visit to Juba, South Sudan.
• Efforts to resolve the deadlock over sustainable and predictable UN financing for AU-led peace support operations remained stalled by mid-2019 due to US opposition and internal AUPSC divisions regarding the AU Peace Fund.
• The report recommends that South Africa leverage its role as AU chair in 2020 to strengthen the UN-AU partnership and coordinate with the 2021 A3 successor to ensure a common legacy project.
• There is a noted need for South Africa to improve its public diplomacy to justify the importance of multilateral appointments to a domestic public focused on pressing economic and political challenges.

APA

Singh, P., & de Carvalho, G. (2020). Looking back, looking forward: South Africa in the UN Security Council. Institute for Security Studies. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/ar-22.pdf

Chicago

Singh, Priyal, and Gustavo de Carvalho. Looking back, looking forward: South Africa in the UN Security Council. Institute for Security Studies, 2020. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/ar-22.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Singh |first1=Priyal |last2=de Carvalho |first2=Gustavo |title=Looking back, looking forward: South Africa in the UN Security Council |publisher=Institute for Security Studies |date=March 2020 |url=https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/ar-22.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{singh2020looking, author = {Singh, Priyal and de Carvalho, Gustavo}, title = {{Looking back, looking forward: South Africa in the UN Security Council}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, year = {2020}, month = mar, url = {https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/ar-22.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }