Nigeria, Feb. 2 -- No one in South Africa was more delighted than International Relations and Cooperation Minister Naledi Pandor when the national soccer team Bafana Bafana beat Morocco this week to reach the Africa Cup of Nations quarter-finals. 'Bafana did us the job of returning the favour by 2-nil,' Pandor beamed at a press conference on 31 January.

The ironic 'favour' returned was Moroccan Ambassador Omar Zniber's unexpected defeat of South African Ambassador Mxolisi Nkosi - by 30 votes to 17 - in the 10 January elections for the 2024 United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) presidency. Morocco clearly outmanoeuvred South Africa, bypassing the customary procedures.

It was Africa's turn to nominate a country for the presidency, w...