CAPE TOWN, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- South Africa has to be ready at all times to fight for a multi-polar world, Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Lindiwe Sisulu said on Thursday.

Speaking in Parliament, the minister stressed the necessity to "ensure that the global forces fighting for a multi-polar world become dominant and are not weakened by those that pursue the narrow uni-polar politics."

South Africa has a huge responsibility to stamp the authority of respect for multilateralism and human rights, Sisulu said during a debate on the State of the Nation Address (SONA) delivered by President Cyril Ramaphosa earlier this month.

"We may be geographically and economically a medium sized country, but our combined morality gives the world hope," Sisulu said.

She pointed to a clear trend that has emerged with the shift in the global "balance of forces" defined by the global power struggle between forces of multi-polarity and those of uni-polarity.

"These global dynamics offer us an opportunity to strengthen multilateral systems of governance, capacitating the regional, continental and global multilateral bodies and ensuring that these international fora have the necessary wherewithal to function optimally and become, in reality, the true catalysts for a transformed, better Africa and world," Sisulu said.

Sisulu warned against the retreat into neo-isolationism, the reasserting of crude, bare-knuckled power politics, and the rise of right-wing populist movements and parties.

This phenomenon is acutely expressed in different parts of the world, she said.

"We are also seeing the rise of right-leaning governments influenced by a rejection of immigrants and poor global economic performance," said the minister.

As South Africa has assumed its seat in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), "the manner in which we conduct our work in the UNSC and other multilateral fora is critical for South Africa to fulfill the injunctions of the (South African) Freedom Charter and to live up to our reputation," said Sisulu.

This is very important if South Africa, Africa and other developing countries are to reverse the dangerous trends towards unilateralism and protectionism that are being spearheaded by some countries, she said.

"This we are doing, because we are firmly committed to a strong multilateral system," the minister said.

South Africa believes and would always promote and protect a rules-based international order, she added.

South Africa, she said, will use its seat at the UNSC as well as its chairmanship of the African Union (AU) next year, BRICS and other multilateral forums to continue working for strong and timeous interventions to decisively deal with the problems of the world.