{"id":3043,"date":"2025-07-16T11:48:57","date_gmt":"2025-07-16T11:48:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/diplomatique.ma\/en\/?p=3043"},"modified":"2025-07-16T16:09:55","modified_gmt":"2025-07-16T16:09:55","slug":"south-africa-and-the-moroccan-sahara-genuine-political-shift-or-electoral-maneuver","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/diplomatique.ma\/en\/south-africa-and-the-moroccan-sahara-genuine-political-shift-or-electoral-maneuver\/","title":{"rendered":"South Africa and the Moroccan Sahara: Genuine Political Shift or Electoral Maneuver?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"3163\" data-end=\"3328\"><strong data-start=\"3163\" data-end=\"3328\">President of South Africa\u2019s &#8220;uMkhonto we Sizwe&#8221; party: History confirms that the Sahara is Moroccan, and autonomy is the realistic solution to resolve this issue<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"3330\" data-end=\"3611\">Jacob Zuma, former President of South Africa and leader of the <em data-start=\"3393\" data-end=\"3412\">uMkhonto we Sizwe<\/em> (MK) party, stated that his party believes Morocco\u2019s autonomy plan \u201cwould allow tangible local governance by the populations of the Sahara, while guaranteeing Morocco\u2019s sovereignty over the region.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">South Africa and the Moroccan Sahara: Genuine Political Shift or Electoral Maneuver? <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/eC9XH6HiWX\">pic.twitter.com\/eC9XH6HiWX<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Diplomatique.ma \u0627\u0644\u062f\u0628\u0644\u0648\u0645\u0627\u0633\u064a\u0629 (@diplomatique_ma) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/diplomatique_ma\/status\/1945514499760361940?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 16, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Zuma expressed this position in a statement to the press following his talks with the Moroccan Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation, and Moroccans Abroad, Nasser Bourita.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">In a statement to the press following his meeting with MFA Nasser Bourita, Mr. Jacob Zuma recalled his historical meeting with His Majesty King Mohammed VI, may God assist Him in 2017 and Morocco&#39;s support for the liberation movement<a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Ly61AgR8OJ\">https:\/\/t.co\/Ly61AgR8OJ<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/cr04ygfGLr\">pic.twitter.com\/cr04ygfGLr<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Moroccan Diplomacy \ud83c\uddf2\ud83c\udde6 (@Marocdiplo_EN) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Marocdiplo_EN\/status\/1945236134499393588?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 15, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"3613\" data-end=\"3795\">\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"3797\" data-end=\"4161\">The former South African president added that his party, <em data-start=\"3854\" data-end=\"3873\">uMkhonto we Sizwe<\/em>, \u201cacknowledges the historical and legal context that strengthens Morocco\u2019s claim over the Sahara,\u201d and considers that Morocco\u2019s efforts to recover its full territorial integrity \u201care in line with the party\u2019s continued commitment to upholding the sovereignty and unity of African states.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"4163\" data-end=\"4571\">He recognized \u201cthe growing international and continental support\u201d the Moroccan initiative has received in recent years, describing the autonomy plan as \u201ca balanced path that strengthens stability, peace, and development in the region.\u201d He called on \u201cthe international community to support Morocco\u2019s autonomy plan as an effective means to ensure peace, stability, and prosperity for the people of the Sahara.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"4573\" data-end=\"4923\">This position aligns with the political stance of the <em data-start=\"4627\" data-end=\"4646\">uMkhonto we Sizwe<\/em> party, which aims to offer a concrete solution to the longstanding debate over the future of the Sahara, as articulated in an official document issued last month titled:<br data-start=\"4816\" data-end=\"4819\" \/><strong data-start=\"4819\" data-end=\"4923\">\u201cStrategic Partnership for African Unity, Economic Empowerment, and Territorial Integrity: Morocco.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"4925\" data-end=\"5227\">This document reaffirms that the Sahara \u201cwas part of Morocco before the Spanish colonization at the end of the 19th century. As such, it has been an inseparable part of Morocco for centuries. Morocco\u2019s claim predates colonization and stems from the allegiance of Saharan tribes to the Moroccan throne.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"5229\" data-end=\"5437\">The text also calls on the international community to \u201ctake into account the region\u2019s historical ties to Morocco and the legitimate interests of the Moroccan people in preserving their territorial integrity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"5439\" data-end=\"5752\">Lastly, the document highlights the iconic Green March, describing it as \u201ca decolonization initiative and a testament to the historical ties between Morocco and its Sahara,\u201d as well as \u201ca unique and peaceful liberation movement,\u201d in which \u201cover 350,000 unarmed Moroccans entered the Sahara to reclaim their land.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>President of South Africa\u2019s &#8220;uMkhonto we Sizwe&#8221; party: History confirms that the Sahara is Moroccan, and autonomy is the realistic solution to resolve this issue Jacob Zuma, former President of South Africa and leader of the uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK) party, stated that his party believes Morocco\u2019s autonomy plan \u201cwould allow tangible local governance by [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3044,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39,76],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-3043","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-africa","8":"category-the-maghreb"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/diplomatique.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3043","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/diplomatique.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/diplomatique.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diplomatique.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diplomatique.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3043"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/diplomatique.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3043\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3047,"href":"https:\/\/diplomatique.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3043\/revisions\/3047"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diplomatique.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3044"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/diplomatique.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3043"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diplomatique.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3043"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diplomatique.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3043"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}