S. African National Assembly urged to approve nuclear weapon prohibition treaty

CAPE TOWN, Oct. 25 — Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on International Relations and Cooperation on Thursday urged the National Assembly to approve the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
The approval of the treaty will reinforce and promote South Africa as a responsible producer, possessor and trader of military items and advanced technologies in the nuclear, biological and chemical fields, the committee said in a statement emailed to Xinhua.
The South African Department of International Relations and Cooperation presented the treaty to the National Assembly on Wednesday.
The treaty is in line with the country’s disarmament policies, domestic legislation and international obligations, the committee said.
“Nuclear weapons pose an existential threat to humanity. Once approved by the House, the treaty will contribute to Outcome 11 in the medium-term strategic framework of the Department of International Relations and Cooperation, which aims to create a better South Africa and contribute to a better and safer Africa in a better world,” Committee Chairperson Siphosezwe Masango said.
The committee believes that the treaty will also form part of the country’s strategic focus to commit to multilateralism and a rules-based international order, in which adequate attention is paid to all global threats facing humanity, said Masango.
Passed on July 7, 2017 by the United Nations General Assembly, the treaty, also known as the Nuclear Weapon Ban Treaty, is the first legally binding international agreement to comprehensively prohibit nuclear weapons, with the goal of leading towards their total elimination.
In order for the treaty to come into effect, signature and ratification by at least 50 countries is required. For those nations that are party to it, the treaty prohibits the development, testing, production, stockpiling, stationing, transfer, use and threat of use of nuclear weapons, as well as assistance and encouragement to the prohibited activities.
South Africa has already been a signatory of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons since 1991. – XINHUA