South African president calls for permanent African seat on UN Security Council

By Andrew Wasike

NAIROBI, Kenya (AA) - South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has reiterated Africa’s demand for permanent representation in the UN Security Council (UNSC).

The South African leader emphasized that it is unacceptable for the continent, home to 1.3 billion people, to remain unrepresented.

Speaking to reporters at the Africa Aerospace and Defense Exhibition Airshow at the Waterkloof Airforce Base in Centurion, South Africa, Ramaphosa argued that Africa deserves not only a permanent seat but also veto right, to avoid being relegated to "second-class" participation.

“It is a real terrible anomaly at the moment that we are not represented, but we have been campaigning and the concept is now being accepted,” Ramaphosa said.

“We have got the capability, we have got the knowhow and Africa needs to be given its rightful place in the UN systems and its various structures,” he added.

This comes after the US last week said it will call for support for two African countries as permanent members of the UNSC without veto power as part of the proposed reforms.

South African president and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping last year in August co-chaired a China-Africa leaders' roundtable dialogue in Johannesburg attended by several African leaders.

The two sides reaffirmed their strong commitment to the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and their staunch support for each other in upholding territorial integrity, sovereignty and security and development interests.