The South African Communist Party (SACP) has called on the US to lift the economic, trade, investment and financial sanctions against Cuba.
Cuba has been sanctioned by the US since 1962 and red-listed on the state's list of nations supporting terrorism.
The US blockade on Cuba has far-reaching extra-territorial impacts, blocking other countries and their companies from building or enhancing trade and investment relations and engaging in financial transactions with Cuba.
The blockade allegedly deprived Cuba of acquiring technologies, equipment, components, containing over 10% of US value addition.
This comes as the African National Congress (ANC) and its allies, the South African Communist Party (SACP), Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu), South African National Civic Organisation (Sanco), and Cuban solidarity civil society organisations were hosting the seventh African Continental Meeting of Solidarity with Cuba in Mpumalanga.
The meeting is held at Ingonyama Sports Resorts in White River, from January 15 to 17.
In a joint statement, the organisations condemned the US' actions and said they would stand united against the unjust blockade of Cuba.
"This imperialist blockade is inclusive of unilateral sanctions outside of and undermining the United Nations’ legal and multilateral frameworks. It is, altogether with the sanctions, illegal.
"Through the economic warfare, and in addition, political and propaganda attacks on Cuba’s sovereignty and government, the United States seeks to usurp Cuba’s fundamental right to national self-determination, drive regime change and impose its development path on Cuba," the statement read.
Some of the political parties have shown support and solidarity for the embattled Cuban government.
The meeting sought to strengthen the relationship with Cuba.
"We stand united in our support for the Cuban government and people’s just demand for the United States to end, unconditionally, its occupation of Guantanamo Bay, an inseparable part of Cuba’s territory," the statement wrote.
This follows days after the South African legal team lodged a genocide case against the Israeli government in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Hague, the Netherlands.
The SA legal team presented its case before the ICJ against Israel, accusing it of committing what it described as genocide against Palestinians who live in Gaza.
kamogelo.moichela@inl.co.za
IOL Politics