Why Does South Africa Still Bow to Empire? A Call to Exit the UN and Commonwealth and Reclaim African Sovereignty

In 1994, South Africa rejoined the Commonwealth with fanfare. The ANC, fresh from the triumph of democratic liberation, accepted the invitation to re-enter a club of former colonies presided over by the very empire that once branded our people as subhuman. Every ANC president since has performed a ritual of fealty—symbolic or diplomatic—to the British Crown. We were told this was reconciliation. But reconciliation without justice is submission.

Let us be clear: the Commonwealth and UN is not a development engine. It is a legacy club of empire. It offers visibility, not sovereignty. It performs inclusion, not redistribution. It has no binding charter to uplift Africa, no reparative justice mechanism, and no structural commitment to African industrial autonomy. Its existence is a reminder that colonialism was never dismantled—only rebranded.

And what of the United Nations? We are told it is the cornerstone of global cooperation. But the UN is structurally undemocratic. Five permanent members—none African—hold veto power over global decisions. The Security Council enshrines global apartheid. Peacekeeping missions often operate with colonial logic, disciplining African states while ignoring the root causes of instability—many of which lie in Western extraction and interference. No efforts are made by UN to stop the bloodletting in Congo because it benefits their extraction of critical minerals  paying few million tax and taking out billions in minerals. 

The UN’s agencies—WHO, UNESCO, UNDP—offer technical support, yes. But they do not build autonomous African capacity. They replicate dependency. They do not treat African states as equals. They treat us as wards—objects of charity, not subjects of history who are sovereign states with inherent dignity of its people. 

So we must ask: why does Africa remain in these institutions? Why does DIRCO continue to perform allegiance to structures that deny our dignity?

It is time to pivot. BRICS offers a radically different proposition. No veto power. No imperial privilege. Decisions are made by consensus. The New Development Bank funds infrastructure without IMF-style dignity impairing conditionalities. BRICS respects sovereignty. It treats African states as equals.

If Africa were to leave the UN and Commonwealth and fully embrace BRICS, we could build parallel institutions: a BRICS-Africa Health Organization, a BRICS Education Fund, a BRICS Infrastructure Bank. We could reclaim narrative dignity. We could forge South-South solidarity rooted in mutual respect. There is nothing that the UN has which BRICS cannot be.

We do not lack capacity. We lack ideological clarity. WHO-Africa already exists. The AU Peace and Security Council could replace UN peacekeeping. The Pan-African Parliament could evolve into a continental legislative body with real teeth. What’s missing is the political will to say: enough.

Every time an ANC president swears allegiance to the Queen—symbolically or diplomatically—it wounds our sovereignty. It reminds us that the architecture of global diplomacy still demands African submission. The Commonwealth, the UN, and other post-imperial clubs offer visibility but not justice.

And let us not forget: the United Nations stood idle during the genocide in Rwanda. It stands idle now as the Democratic Republic of Congo bleeds. And in Gaza, as children are incinerated and hospitals bombed, the UN issues statements while the machinery of death rolls on. These are not failures of capacity—they are failures of will. The UN does not exist for Africa’s benefit. It exists to stabilize the interests of the Global North. To place our faith in such an institution is to accept our own disposability. Africa must choose dignity over diplomacy, sovereignty over symbolism, and justice over performance.

To remain in these institutions without challenge is to accept a world where African dignity is negotiable.

DIRCO must choose: continue performing allegiance to empire, or begin building a future rooted in African sovereignty, dignity, and justice.

The time for polite diplomacy is over. The time for moral clarity has come.

By: Masibongwe Sihlahla

Independent Writer, Community Commentator, Civic Activist