‘SA supports lifting of sanctions against Zimbabwe’ – SA Parliament




South African Defence Minister Thandi Modise
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National Assembly Speaker Thandi Modise has reiterated South Africa’s stand to support the lifting of the targeted economic sanctions against Zimbabwe.

In October, National Council of Provinces Chairperson Amos Masondo tabled a motion at the third Ordinary Session of the Pan African Parliament (PAP), held in Midrand, urging members of the PAP to demand the immediate lifting of the economic sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe.

On Saturday at the 46th Plenary Assembly Session of the Southern African Development Community Parliamentary Forum (SADC-PF), Josefina Perpétua Pitra Diakite – an MP from Angola, tabled a motion calling for the lifting of the economic sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe.

Supporting Diakite’s motion on Saturday Speaker Modise said: “We stand as South Africa to say to our brothers, our sisters, our neighbours – in fact our family because we have intermarried, to say that your pain is our pain.”

“Without South Africa standing up and joining up with other neighbours, the economic progress of the region will be retarded. The issues of child mortality, of hunger, will continue to besiege the region,” said Speaker Modise.

In her motion, Diakite said Angola was deeply concerned that these “economic sanctions had negatively affected people’s livelihoods, economic development and access to health, particularly the poorest and most vulnerable population, including young girls, women, children, the disabled and the elderly people.”

“The economic sanctions are a violation of the human, economic and social rights of the people of Zimbabwe and have a negative impact on the Government’s efforts to leverage the economy and boost the living standards of the Zimbabwean people,” Diakite said.

She added that they were concerned that these “sanctions have had an adverse effect on the SADC region’s growth and sustainable development objectives and will slow down the economic and regional integration efforts as they undermine commercial, economic and financial relations between member states.”

Meanwhile, the 46th Plenary Assembly also adopted a motion by Sally Saleh Alley – from Tanzania, calling for the free movement of people and goods across the SADC Region in preparation for the successful implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area.

In addition, South Africa’s delegate – Tshitereke Matibe’s move for the adoption of a motion to develop cross-border agricultural value chain in SADC as a catalyst for successful implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area was also adopted.

The 46th Plenary Assembly Session of the Southern African Development Community Parliamentary Forum (SADC-PF), which has been meeting in Swakopmund, Namibia, concluded on Monday.

Political Bureau