South Africa

South Africa is a state party to the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons. South Africa supports the negotiation of a legally binding instrument on autonomous weapons systems. South Africa is a member of the African Group within the United Nations, and is a member of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), both of which support the negotiation of a legally binding instrument on autonomous weapons systems.

At the March 2026 session of the CCW Group of Governmental Experts on lethal autonomous weapons systems a joint statement was delivered on behalf of African States that are High Contracting Parties to CCW, including South Africa, stating that ‘the African Group is ready and committed to completing [the GGE] mandate’s work and supports moving forward toward negotiations on the basis of the rolling text.’^[1]Statement by Sierra Leone on behalf of African States that are High Contracting Parties to the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, CCW GGE on LAWS, 4 March 2026, … Continue reading

In December 2025, South Africa voted in favour of UN General Assembly Resolution 80/57 on lethal autonomous weapons systems. Mindful of the challenges and concerns autonomous weapons systems raise from humanitarian, legal, security, technological and ethical perspectives, Resolution 80/57 stresses the urgent need for the CCW to address the challenges and concerns posed by autonomous weapons systems, and calls upon the High Contracting Parties of the CCW to ‘work towards completing the set of elements for an instrument being developed within the mandate of the Group of Governmental Experts, with a view to future negotiation.’

During the 80th Session of the UNGA First Committee on Disarmament and International Security in October 2025, South Africa stated ‘South Africa welcomes the progress made during the 2025 sessions of the Group of Governmental Experts on LAWS. The ‘rolling text’ serves as a good basis to advance discussions in line with the mandate to consider and formulate elements that can serve as the basis of negotiations for a legally binding instrument.’^[2]Statement by South Africa, United Nations General Assembly First Committee, 23 October 2025, https://webtv.un.org/en/asset/k19/k19jlr39um?kalturaStartTime=7676, please note that this link leads to … Continue reading

At the 79th UN General Assembly First Committee in October 2024, South Africa voted in favour of Draft Resolution L.77 on lethal autonomous weapons systems. Draft Resolution L.77 raises concerns about the ‘negative consequences and impact of autonomous weapon systems on global security and regional and international stability’ and stresses ‘the importance of the role of humans in the use of force to ensure responsibility and accountability and for States to comply with international law.’ It also notes ‘the repeated calls by the Secretary-General to urgently conclude negotiations of a legally binding instrument with prohibitions and regulations for autonomous weapons systems, in line with a two-tier approach.’ The Resolution will convene open informal consultations in 2025 over two days in New York, ‘to consider the report of the Secretary-General in full complementarity with and in a manner that supports the fulfilment of the mandate of the Group of Governmental Experts in order to further the international community’s understanding of the issues involved by discussing the full range of views received, including proposals and relevant aspects raised in the report that may thus far not have been discussed in detail in the Group of Governmental Experts.’

In December 2023, South Africa voted in support of UN General Assembly Resolution 78/241 on lethal autonomous weapons systems. Resolution 78/241 stressed the ‘urgent need for the international community to address the challenges and concerns raised by autonomous weapons systems’, and mandated the UN Secretary-General to prepare a report, reflecting the views of member and observer states on autonomous weapons systems and ways to address the related challenges and concerns they raise from humanitarian, legal, security, technological and ethical perspectives and on the role of humans in the use of force.

At the November 2023 CCW Meeting of High Contracting Parties, the African Group, of which South Africa is a member, reiterated that ‘lethal autonomous weapons systems ‘raise ethical, legal, moral and technical questions, as well as international peace and security-related questions which should be thoroughly deliberated and examined in the context of conformity to international law, including international humanitarian law and international human rights law.’ The African Group further stated that autonomous weapons ‘must remain under the direct, meaningful control and supervision of humans at all times. These key principles must, therefore form the essential elements of any normative and operational framework to address ethical considerations as well as moral responsibility and accountability of these weapons systems.’ The African Group also noted its support for a legally binding instrument on autonomous weapons.^[3]Statement delivered by Nigeria on behalf of the African Group, Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons Meeting of High Contracting Parties, November 2023, … Continue reading

At the 2023 CCW GGE on LAWS, South Africa reiterated the need for the adoption of a ‘legally binding instrument’ on autonomous weapons systems, ‘due to their indiscriminate effects and to address the humanitarian and international security challenges’ posed by such systems.^[4]Statement by South Africa, CCW GGE on LAWS, 6 March 2023, … Continue reading

In a statement during the Sixth Review Conference of the CCW in December 2021, South Africa stated that ‘it is high time for further work on LAWS, building on the body of work before us, to move into the phase of concrete negotiations. Should the GGE’s (CCW Group of Governmental Experts on Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems) further work result in the adoption of an instrument on LAWS that is of a political nature only and as a final product, with no prospect of elevating further work to the level of a legally binding instrument, South Africa would regard the process as having been a failure’.^[5]Statement by South Africa, Sixth Review Conference of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, December 2021, … Continue reading The statement further emphasised that ‘we should always bear in mind that the possibility to weaponise such technology raises fundamental ethical, legal, operational and political questions’.^[6]Statement by South Africa, Sixth Review Conference of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, December 2021, … Continue reading