Pretoria – The Southern Caucus of the Pan African Parliament (PAP), situated in Midrand, has resolved to table a motion calling for the upcoming sixth PAP’s First Ordinary Session to debate and take a resolution that will bolster efforts to end sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe.
Annually, October 25 is designated by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) as a day for solidarity against the sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe by the EU, US and UK about 20 years ago.
On Wednesday morning, #ZimSanctionsMustGo was one of the top Twitter trends in South Africa as the divisive matter was also scrutinised on social media.
The Southern Caucus – which consists of Members of Parliament (MPs) from Botswana, Eswatini, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe – took the resolution following a request by the Zimbabwean delegation which petitioned the region join calls, denouncing the targeted economic sanctions against its landlocked nation.
MPs from Angola and Lesotho, who complete the 10 SADC member States which form the vociferous Southern Caucus at the PAP did not attend the meeting held on Tuesday.
Southern Caucus chairperson, Pemmy Majodina, said the economic, financial and trade sanctions unilaterally imposed on Zimbabwe by the US, UK and the EU since 2002 have had grave repercussions, not only to Zimbabwe’s economy and the fundamental rights of its people, but the entire SADC region which is reeling from “the catastrophic effect of these sanctions”.
“We are deeply concerned that these unjustified, unilateral sanctions, have a grave and untenably egregious impact on women, children and ordinary citizens of Zimbabwe,” said Majodina, who is also the chief whip of the ruling ANC in South Africa.
The resolution was taken as the caucus was concluding its two-day preparatory meeting for the PAP sixth parliament’s first ordinary session, which starts on Monday and runs until 13 November 2022 – to consider amendments that will close gaps in the current PAP Rules of Procedure.
Leader of Parliament of the Republic of South Africa’s five-member multi-party delegation, Amos Masondo, first tabled a motion urging members of the PAP to demand the immediate lifting of the economic sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe in October 2019 during the PAP’s 3rd Ordinary Session.
The call was also echoed by former National Assembly speaker, Thandi Modise, at the 46th Plenary Assembly Session of the Southern African Development Community Parliamentary Forum (SADC-PF) held in Swakopmund, Namibia in December 2019.
Speaking at the meeting on Tuesday, Masondo, who is also the chairperson of the National Council of Provinces in South Africa (NCOP), said Zimbabwe’s problems “whatever the nature and extent, should be left to the Zimbabweans to solve.”
“The notion of sanctions is misplaced, it has impacted negatively on the people especially the poorest of the poor. We call on these sanctions to be immediately lifted,” Masondo said.
Another member of the South African Parliament’s delegation, Prof Mathole Motshekga, said they are deeply concerned and disturbed by the unilateral sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe.
“We think this is a gross violation of international law and the rights of the people of Zimbabwe, and we think that this matter should be debated by the Pan-African Parliament and it must be escalated to the African Union and the United Nations,” Motshekga said.
He said when Ghana gained independence in 1958 and Cuba in 1959, the Western European powers realised that the decolonisation process is unstoppable and “they quickly granted independence to their colonies in Africa but imposed Bills of Rights which protected the rights of the settlers to the land and properties of the African people and now Zimbabwe is punished for refusing to hand over its country and natural resources to the imperialist powers.”
The PAP is meeting in Midrand, Joburg, to consider, amongst others, proposals to amend the PAP Rules of Procedure, hold debates to review the performance of the PAP activities, the AU, and the status of peace and security in Africa and also swear-in new members.
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