CONFIDENTIAL
South Africa
4.
South Africa became a member not only of the UN itself, but of most of the Specialised Agencies, in the organisation's early years. With the influx of African members in the ewly 60s, there were increasingly strenuous demands for South Africa's expulsion from many of the agencies, and occasionally from the UN. Following strong pressure from African countries, South Africa voluntarily withdrew from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) in 1963, and from the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in 1964.
5. More recently, the 18th (1979) Congress of the Universal Postal Union passed a resolution purporting to expel South Africa from the Union, which the Nine voted against. The recent International Atomic Energy Authority (IAEA) Conference in New Delhi voted to reject South Africa's credentials. The Nine voted against rejection, making a joint statement along the lines of paragraph 2 above. South Africa was therefore prevented from participating, though there has as yet been no move to suspend her from the rights and privileges of membership of the IAEA. (There is no provision under the IAEA statute for the expulsion of a member state.) South Africa at present remains a member of over half the Specialised Agencies; in some, like the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), she is barred from attending meetings even while remaining a member. In the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) a proposal at the 1979 Conference formally to exclude South Africa failed to achieve the required two-thirds majority though, in practice, South Africa will remain barred from attending WIPO meetings, in accordance with the 1977 decision of the WIFO Co-ordinating Committee.
6. Pressure in the General Assembly and the Security Council has focussed on the inadmissibility of South Africa's credentials. In October 1974, a Third World Security Council Resolution challenging South Africa's right to membership of the UN was vetoed by the UK, US and France. All three countries invoked the principle of universality in their explanation of vote. Also in 1974,
South African credentials were discussed in the General Assembly. The President of the Assembly, Mr Bouteflika, gave an interpretation of the General Assembly's decision in September to approve the
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