President Jacob Zuma has called for UN member states to dismantle their nuclear weapons and instead use them for peaceful means.

He was addressing the 72nd session of the UN General Assembly in New York on Wednesday night.

Zuma called for calm in the Korean Peninsula insisting and urging countries of the world to follow in South Africa’s footsteps which is hailed for using its nuclear weapons for peaceful means.

His address came hot on the heels of him signing the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

President Zuma was number 19 of the over 190 world leaders billed to address the 2017 session of the world body.

Zuma also touched on the structure of the global economy.

He says the world needs political will to change the structure of the global economy in order to achieve sustainable development and inclusive growth.

The President also used the occasion to urged developed countries of the North to partner with their African counterparts in Africa’s development.

He said rich countries should refrain from under-developing the continent through illicit financial outflows which amount to over $100 billion a year.

He concluded his programme at the UN with a gala dinner organised to celebrate life and time of former ANC President Oliver Tambo who was synonymous to the corridors of the world body at a time while he was campaigning for the liberation of South Africa from the apartheid regime.