Question NW4224 to the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation
21 December 2015 - NW4224
Mokgalapa, Mr S to ask the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation
(1) Whether South Africa voted in the vote taken on 30 October 2015 in respect of the resolution to accept, among other states, the State of Israel as a member of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Use of Outer Space Affairs; if not, why not; if so, in what committee did South Africa vote; (2) Whether the specified resolution will be made available to the public; if not, why not; if so, (a) when and (b) what are the further relevant details; (3) Did South Africa vote in favour of the specified resolution; if not, why not; if so, (a) why and (b) what are the further relevant details?
Reply:
In response to (1), yes South Africa did vote on the 30th of October 2015 during the United Nations General Assembly 4th Committee’s meeting on the draft decision A/C.4/70/L.7 entitled “Increase in the membership of the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space”.
In response to (2), the specific decision as well as background information on the United Nations General Assembly 4th Committee issues, is available to the public and can be found on the United Nations website at: http://www.un.org/en/ga/fourth/70/documentation.shtml
In response to (3), a recorded vote was requested during which South Africa voted in the affirmative. The voting process called specifically for the inclusion of all applicants namely: Qatar, Egypt, Sri Lanka, Kuwait, and Israel. Furthermore, South Africa was a part of the general consensus which reflected 117 Member States voting “yes” with, 21 “abstentions” and 1 voting “no”.