Johannesburg, 12 March 2022 (SPS) - South Africa and Mozambique urged Friday the United Nations Security Council to accelerate the process to allow the Saharawi people to exercise their right to self-determination.
Included since 1966 in the list of non-self-governing territories, and therefore eligible for the application of UN General Assembly resolution 1514 on the granting of independence to colonized countries and peoples, Western Sahara is the last colony in Africa, occupied since 1975 by Morocco.
In December 2016, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) concluded that Western Sahara is a "separate" and "distinct" territory from Morocco.
In addition, the South African head of state, Cyril Ramaphosa, said during a meeting with his Mozambican counterpart, on the occasion of the third Binational Commission South Africa-Mozambique, held in Pretoria, that "the two countries share a common vision on issues of peace, stability, economic development, regional and continental integration.
"We are undertaking programs to promote youth development, women's empowerment, poverty reduction and job creation," he said, noting that these are some of the concrete steps being taken to achieve the vision of the African Union (AU) Agenda 2063.
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