Shannon Ebrahim
On Tuesday this week, the Mandela of Western Sahara – Mohamed Abdelaziz – passed away at the age of 68, reigniting the calls for Western Sahara’s liberation.
Western Sahara is the last bastion of colonialism on a continent that largely broke free from the chains of colonialism over 40 years ago.
Just as the Saharawis had freed themselves from Spanish colonialism, troops from Mauritania and Morocco had marched in to claim the territory in 1975.
Mauritania withdrew in 1979, but Morocco has continued to occupy the area, the size of Britain, up until today.
The African Union has, since its formation, backed the struggle of the Saharawi people for self-determination, but it is now time to do something about it.
The UN has failed to deliver on its promise of a referendum on self-determination following a 1991 ceasefire between Morocco and the Polisario Front.
If the AU wants to prove that it has solutions to African problems, it must now take up the reins of resolving this issue once and for all.
The difficulty will be that the occupying power, Morocco, is the only country in Africa that is not a member of the AU as the continent as a collective has recognised the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR).
United Nations secretary-general Ban Ki-moon made a strategic visit to the Tindouf refugee camps in the desert of southern Algeria in March this year, in the hopes of reviving the dormant negotiation process.
He referred to the situation in Western Sahara as an “occupation”, setting off a barrage of retaliatory steps from its Moroccan occupiers, including the expulsion of the civilian component of the UN mission Minurso.
Ban’s spokesperson was quick to claim that Ban’s remark was not an official UN position, and there has been no progress in moving the negotiations' process forward.
If Africa really believes in the right of the Saharawis to self- determination, they will need to take tangible steps towards supporting this right, rather than merely issuing statements year in and year out. Just as the UN appointed an envoy to the region, former US diplomat Christopher Ross, it is time the AU appointed its own envoy to see whether African mediation could possibly be more effective.
The ANC has long supported this struggle and its secretary-general, Gwede Mantashe, was a guest at the Polisario Congress last year.
One of the Polisario Front desert battalions is also named after OR Tambo. But beyond symbolic solidarity, there is an urgent need for tangible action.
This is now one of the most protracted refugee crises worldwide, where the tens of thousands of Saharawi refugees in the Southern Algerian desert rely on humanitarian aid for their survival as they brave desert temperatures that regularly reach 50ºC.
The tented desert camps have been the only existence many have known since they fled the advancing Moroccan forces in 1975.
The refugees in the Algerian desert are completely cut off from their homeland by a wall that is second in length only to the Great Wall of China.
Shortly after Moroccan forces occupied the land in 1975, they built a sand wall called the Berm, which is 12 times the length of the Berlin Wall, and four times that of the West Bank wall.
Surrounded by land mines and guarded by 120 000 Moroccan troops, the wall has fortified Morocco from the refugee camps in Algeria and its liberation fighters.
The Moroccan King Mohammed VI says that he offers no more than autonomy for the Western Sahara, and has pledged that revenues from the mineral-rich area will continue to be invested locally.
Not only does the area have significant fishing and phosphate reserves, but there have been recent potential offshore oil finds by US and British companies.
Some call this a game-changer, but companies should not be allowed to exploit such resources in occupied territory.
The Saharawi leader Abdelaziz will be remembered for his commitment to resolve the conflict with Morocco peacefully, and he has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.
The motivation for the Nobel Prize states that “at a time when terrorism is increasingly used as a means of advancing objectives, Abdelaziz relied on the solidarity of the international community and the rule of law".
Abdelaziz’s administration in the camps has proved an effective and democratic leadership.
Elections were regularly held and a constitution was established guaranteeing the right to vote, equal rights for women and religious freedom.
With Abdelaziz’s passing, there are calls from some Polisario youth to go back to war in the absence of a diplomatic breakthrough.
Top Polisario Front leader Bachir Mustafa Sayed has warned that war is possible over the disputed territory if the UN Security Council fails to set a timetable for a vote on self-determination.
It is now for the AU to show leadership on this issue.