South Africa claims the “right to self-determination” of the Saharawi people after receiving Ghali with honors

Oct. 18 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, defended this Tuesday the “right to self-determination” as a key point to complete the process of “decolonization” of Western Sahara, in the presence of the General Secretary of the Polisario Front, Brahim Ghali, received with honors at the african country.

Ramaphosa has stressed that “the illegal occupation of Western Sahara by Morocco” continues to be a “reason for concern” both regionally and internationally, in a public acknowledgment of an ally with whom South Africa maintains “fraternal relations”.

In this regard, he recalled that the UN Security Council enshrined in a 1991 resolution the holding of a referendum “that would allow the Saharawi people to determine their own destiny”.

“South Africa supports the Saharawi people in their fight against the illegal occupation,” stressed the president, who will receive the President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, next week.

The youth of the African National Congress (ANC, for its acronym in English), the ruling party in South Africa, already condemned on Monday Spain’s endorsement of the Moroccan autonomy plan for Western Sahara.

Ramaphosa has promised in his speech, released by the Presidency, to continue working together with Ghali to achieve a “just and lasting” solution to the conflict and has called for a dialogue “without conditions” between the Polisario Front, which controls the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic ( SADR), and the Government of Morocco.

Negotiations remain stalled despite visits to the region by the UN special envoy, Staffan de Mistura, who has been in office for just one year.