South Africa has welcomed the United Nations’ Treaty on Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), which entered into force on Friday to ban nuclear weapons from the world.
The treaty was approved by the UN General Assembly in 2017. It got its 50th ratification on October 24, triggering a 90-day period before its entry into force on January 22, 2021.
“Today marks a turning point in humanity’s endeavour to rid the world of nuclear weapons,” International Relations and Cooperation Minister Dr Naledi Pandor said in a statement.
“It is the culmination of that very first UN General Assembly resolution in 1946 which sought to deal with the elimination of nuclear weapons and other weapons adaptable to mass destruction.
“It cannot be over emphasised that the TPNW is not the final word on nuclear weapons, but a critical step in the evolution of the regime that would be required to achieve and eventually maintain a world without nuclear weapons,” Pandor said.