United Nations' Role in South Africa: Constraints and Possible Options

The principle of the elimination of racism and racial discrimination, of which apartheid is an institutionalised form, has become one of the cornerstones of the international community's concerns. As the community's watchdog, the United Nations has accorded, a high priority to this principle. Article 56 of the United Nations Charter stipulates thatbn ‘all members pledge themselves to take joint action in cooperation with the Organisation for the achievement of the purposes set forth in Article 55’, which includes ‘universal respect for, and observance of, human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language or religion.’ Equally, the concern of the international community has been evident in the progressive evolution of the General Assembly's recommendations, resolutions and decisions, of the relevant international instruments, of its policy of sanctions, albeit by no means satisfactory, and the prominence this principle receives in various UN organs and activities, in particular the programmes undertaken under the Decade for Action to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination. However, the supportive role of the United Nations in the struggle being waged against apartheid within South Africa and Namibia, highly commendable though it is, has unfortunately been considerably weakened by the lack of consensus in dealing with systematic violations of international norms by the Pretoria regime for the maintenance of apartheid , as well as over the strategies to be adopted to resist this unjust and oppressive system. In the specific context of the present structure of the United Nations, particularly the powers given to the Security Council, these divergencies are found to be major constraints as they have the inevitable impact of impeding enforcement measures. As a consequence today, the continuing gulf between international law and reality threatens the very credibility of the world organisation especially as far as its human rights policies with regard to South Africa are concerned. The struggle within the United Nations system against apartheid , inevitably slow moving, nonetheless continues as can be seen from the evolution of measures taken. It will also be seen that the world body, undeterred by persistent disagreements over principle, its interpretation and enforcement, continues to explore possible options in shaping policies to be able to deal more effectively with the scourge of apartheid and thereby strengthen the ethical foundations of the international community and a civilised system of peaceful coexistence. The situation, therefore, though highly complicated, is not entirely hopeless. On the contrary there is room for optimism that meaningful consequences will emerge from these efforts of the United Nations to eliminate apartheid as well as to bring about a qualitative change in and protection of a whole range of human rights.