Polisario turns to Ramaphosa in Paris to reach Macron on Sahara

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa received the Polisario Front's «foreign minister», Mohamed Yeslam Beissat, in Paris on Friday, July 10, to receive a written message from Brahim Ghali. Contrary to the impression given in the Front's statement, the meeting did not take place in Pretoria but in the French capital, where Ramaphosa is on an official visit until July 12.

According to a source familiar with the matter who spoke to Yabiladi, the meeting served a more specific purpose than the exchange of messages cited by the Polisario. Ghali's envoy reportedly sought to persuade the South African president to relay a Polisario initiative to French President Emmanuel Macron, whom Ramaphosa was scheduled to meet at the Élysée Palace later that day.

According to the same source, Mohamed Yeslam Beissat's trip had a clear objective: to convince Ramaphosa to present a Polisario-drafted initiative to Macron before promoting it more broadly on the international stage.

The Front is reportedly considering softening certain aspects of its diplomatic rhetoric, which has long remained rigid. The shift comes as the separatist movement faces growing diplomatic challenges on the international stage.

Several recent developments have contributed to this situation. The projectile attacks on Es-Smara on May 5 revived criticism of the Polisario from the United Nations and several countries. More recently, a meeting in Washington between a delegation from the Sahrawi Movement for Peace (MSP), a rival organization to the Front, and Mike Waltz, the United States' permanent representative to the United Nations, underscored the emergence of alternative interlocutors on the Sahara issue.

Turning to South Africa

Facing an increasingly unfavorable diplomatic environment, the Polisario is now seeking to revive its political initiative by relying on South Africa, one of its main international backers. Although Pretoria's influence has waned among several African states and its image has been tarnished by repeated episodes of xenophobic violence targeting African nationals in recent years, it remains an influential diplomatic actor within organizations such as the African Union and BRICS, as well as in a number of foreign capitals.

The move also reflects Algeria's growing difficulty in shaping recent developments surrounding the Sahara issue. According to several observers, while Algiers remains the Polisario's principal supporter, it no longer has the capacity on its own to influence the course of international discussions.

The strategy is not without precedent. In January 2024, the UN Secretary-General's Personal Envoy for Western Sahara, Staffan de Mistura, traveled to South Africa to explore a possible role for Pretoria in the political process, an initiative Morocco firmly rejected at the time.

The Paris meeting between Mohamed Yeslam Beissat and Cyril Ramaphosa therefore appears to be part of a broader Polisario strategy to reactivate its diplomatic networks in southern Africa and use Pretoria as a channel to reach Western partners, beginning with France.