Johannesburg (South Africa) 27 July 2025 (SPS)- South African President and ANC leader Cyril Ramaphosa has delivered a powerful statement in support of the Sahrawi people and the Polisario Front, reaffirming South Africa’s long-standing solidarity with Western Sahara.
Addressing the Summit of Liberation Movements in Kempton Park, Ramaphosa placed the issue of Western Sahara firmly within the broader context of Africa’s unfinished liberation, declaring, “Liberation is indivisible. We are not truly free until all are free.”
Ramaphosa warned that Africa now faces a “new scramble”, not for territory alone, but for its data, minerals, people, and future. Framing the Western Sahara occupation as part of a wider global assault on African sovereignty, he decried what he called the re-weaponization of global institutions and the transactional diplomacy that undermines multilateralism and continental unity.
According to Ramaphosa, international actors are using legitimate grievances of African populations to interfere in domestic affairs and destabilize progressive governments, including those standing with Palestine and Western Sahara.
The ANC president argued that the current global order is marked by a revival of neocolonialism and unilateralism, creating immense dangers for Africa’s development and political independence.
Ramaphosa called for a renewed push towards a multipolar, equitable global governance framework that genuinely respects African sovereignty and historical justice. “This is a new scramble for Africa,” he stated, urging liberation movements to be the architects of a new world order that is fair, inclusive, and just.
In aligning his stance on Western Sahara with broader warnings about the international system’s exploitation of African resources and vulnerabilities, Ramaphosa made clear that the continent’s future hinges on unity, industrialization, and ideological clarity.
He called on Africa’s liberation movements to confront both internal decay and external manipulation, and to rise to the historic task of completing the continent’s liberation economically, ideologically, and territorially. As he concluded, “We are the custodians of Africa’s unfinished revolution.
Hosted by the African National Congress (ANC), the Liberation Movements Summit kicked off yesterday with the participation of the main liberation movements in Africa and abroad, including a delegation representing the Polisario Front, headed by the Sahrawi Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mohamed Yeslem Beisat,
The Sahrawi cause received strong support from various heads of delegations during the first and second day, and the support to the right of the Sahrawi people to self-determination and independence was in the heart of all interactions between the Sahrawi Minister and participating delegations. (SPS)
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