South Africa must salvage its compromised moral authority by supporting Russia’s expulsion from the UN Human Rights Council
7 April 2022
Note to Editors: Please find attached a soundbite from the Leader of the Democratic Alliance John Steenhuisen MP.
Members of the United Nations General Assembly will today vote on a draft resolution on whether to expel Russia from the UN Human Rights Council in the wake of its war crimes in Ukraine. South Africa can no longer maintain its tacit support for Russia under the guise of “neutrality” and must support this resolution.
The DA calls on the South African government, through its permanent representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Jerry Matthews Matjila, to abandon its immoral pro-Kremlin stance and choose to stand with the people of Ukraine who have been under siege from President Vladimir Putin’s aggression for the past six weeks.
Since Putin rolled his tanks into Ukraine, Ramaphosa’s ANC government has reduced South Africa to an international pariah through its refusal to condemn the invasion and demand the immediate withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukrainian territory. Today’s vote in the General Assembly is an opportunity to correct this shameful foreign policy decision and stand on the right side of history by voting Russia off the UN Human Rights Council.