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17 AFRICAN NATIONS ABSTAIN FROM UN VOTE TO CONDEMN RUSSIA- By Jamie Morris
Over a dozen countries in Africa have abstained from a United Nations vote on whether or not to denounce Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine. The emergency vote showed that the vast majority of the UN’s member states were opposed to Russia’s violence against its smaller neighbour, with 141 out of 193 nations voting in favour of a resolution in support of Ukraine. While five member states voted against the resolution – Belarus, North Korea, Eritrea, Syria and Russia itself – 35 members of the UN General Assembly abstained from the vote. Nearly half of these abstentions were by African nations, including South Africa and Zimbabwe. On Twitter, the South African Embassy of Russia thanked South Africans for sending “a great number of letters of solidarity,” implying that the country’s population was largely in favour of Russia during the conflict. Some replies to the tweet expressed their support, with one user saying “We love Russia because [we] remember your contributions to our struggles,” referencing the former USSR’s opposition to the apartheid regime. The majority of responses, however, were much more critical, such as author Prof Thuli Madonsela tweeting: “Grateful that the Soviet Union supported our anti-apartheid struggle and Russia’s generosity in this regard, but I choose not to support Russia’s #UkraineInvasion and the slaughter of civilians as
that is an unconscionable international law violation.” Another user accused the Embassy of perpetuating false propaganda that the South African people are united behind Russia when many are not. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa sought to justify his decision to abstain from the vote in his weekly newsletter, claiming that the reason was because the UN’s resolution “did not foreground the call for meaningful engagement” between Russia and Ukraine. “There have been some who have said that in abstaining from the vote condemning Russia’s military operation in Ukraine, South Africa has placed itself on the wrong side of history,” he said. “Yet, South Africa is firmly on the side of peace at a time when another war is something the world does not need, nor can it afford.” A similar explanation was given by Zimbabwe’s Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs, Amon Murwira, who argued that the UN’s resolution has “poured more fuel to the fire”. “Zimbabweans have been victims of unilateral sanctions for over 20 years and would not wish this on anyone,” he said. “Dialogue is the way forward.” Like South Africa, Zimbabwe has historic ties with Russia that may have factored into its decision to abstain. In 2008, alongside China, Russia vetoed a UN security council seeking sanctions against Robert
