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On May 29, South Africa's newly elected President Cyril Ramaphosa named 28 ministers, eight fewer that the 36 that were part of the former cabinet. Former South African Foreign Affairs Minister Lindiwie Sisulu is now heading the Ministry of Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation, after she got replaced by Naledi Pandor who served before as South Africa’s Minister of Science and Technology.
Almost one month after taking office, the new South African Foreign Minister addressed diplomatic relations with the Kingdom of Morocco. Interviewed by South African newspaper Daily Maverick, Pandor admitted that she is «not being fully up to date as yet on South Africa’s position on Morocco».
A new South African Foriegn Minister that supports the Polisario
The Minister said that the same thing goes for the «outcomes of the Southern African Development Community Solidarity conference», held in March to support the Polisario Front. The conference, organized on the same time as a Marrakech ministerial conference on the African Union's role in supporting the UN-led political process, «resolved that the AU should play a role alongside the United Nations in efforts to end Morocco’s ‘illegal’ occupation of Western Sahara», the same newspaper pointed out.
Furthermore, the minister recalled that a «new Moroccan ambassador was on the way after 15 years of Pretoria having none», referring to ambassador Youssef Amrani who was appointed by the King Mohammed VI in August 2018.
Just like her predecessor, Pandor had supported the Polisario Front in several occasions in the past. In February 2018, Pandor said during a parliament session on President Cyril Ramaphosa’s state of the nation address that «now that Morocco has been readmitted to the African Union it must be obliged to finally free the suffering masses of Western Sahara».
Indeed, the newly appointed International Relations and Co-operation Minister reiterated, only a few days after assuming office, her country’s support for the separatist movement.
