PRESIDENT Mnangagwa arrived in South Africa yesterday for
the Sadc Solidarity Conference with the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic
(SADR) at which regional leaders are expected to express support towards
de-colonisation and right to self-determination of the people of that country.
He was received at the Lanseria International Airport
outside Pretoria by South African deputy International Relations and
Cooperation minister Reginah Mhaule and Zimbabwean Ambassador to South Africa
Mr David Hamadziripi.
The President is accompanied to the conference by Zanu-PF
chairperson Cde Oppah Muchinguri – Kashiri, secretary for administration Dr
Obert Mpofu, secretary for external relations Cde Simbarashe Mumbengegwi and
secretary for youth affairs Cde Pupurai Togarepi.
The SADR, also known as Western Sahara, is the only African
country still under colonisation by fellow continental nation Morocco since
1975.
The two day Solidarity Conference, co-hosted by South
Africa and Namibia was approved by the 38th Ordinary Summit of Heads of State
and Government of SADC in Windhoek in August last year.
“During the Solidarity Conference, the SADC Heads of State
and Government will express the region’s support for de-colonisation and
self-determination for Western Sahara on the basis of the values and principles
that have guided the quest for independence throughout Africa,” read a Sadc
Press release.
“SADC’s collaboration on and with Western Sahara has been
informed by the region’s own de-colonisation experiences and the quest for
liberation and self-determination.”
The Solidarity Conference is expected to conclude with the
adoption of a SADC Regional Strategy and a Declaration which will among others,
establish mechanisms to engage relevant stakeholders and partners including
Morocco, to observe the spirit of African Union (AU) decisions and United
Nations resolutions in order to expedite the resolution of the Western Sahara
matter.
The bloc also seeks to support SADR’s right to
self-determination and independence based on the principle of
self-determination and de-colonisation, through the holding of a referendum.
SADC also wants to
support SADR based on four principles of, “multilateralism and international
legality in seeking a just, lasting and mutually acceptable political solution,
which will provide for the self-determination and independence of the people of
Western Sahara. Sanctity of inherited colonial borders in Africa and the right
of peoples of former colonial territories to self-determination and independence
as contained in the Constitutive Act of the AU.
“Respect of international human rights law in the occupied
territories, notably the right to freedom of association, assembly, movement
and expression and respect of international humanitarian law and the end of the
illegal exploration and exploitation of the natural resources of Western Sahara
in the illegally occupied territory and the discouragement of the involvement
of foreign companies in such activities,” said SADC
In his maiden speech at the United Nations General Assembly
in New York in September last year, President Mnangagwa urged the world to take
seriously the plight of people living under foreign occupation in the SADR.
“On the African continent, it is equally disheartening that
the people of Western Sahara are yet to exercise their inalienable right to
self-determination. Herald
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