After World War II , Jan Smuts headed the South African delegation to the United Nations Conference on International Organization . As a result of this conference , the League of Nations was formally superseded by the United Nations ( UN ) and former League mandates by a trusteeship system . Article 77 of the United Nations Charter stated that UN trusteeship " shall apply ... to territories now held under mandate " ; furthermore , it would " be a matter of subsequent agreement as to which territories in the foregoing territories will be brought under the trusteeship system and under what terms " . Smuts was suspicious of the proposed trusteeship , largely because of the vague terminology in Article 77 . Heaton Nicholls , the South African high commissioner in the United Kingdom and a member of the Smuts delegation to the UN , addressed the newly formed UN General Assembly on 17 January 1946
United Nations Conference on International Organization
United Nations Conference on International Organization
South African Border War