Johannesburg - The Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Lindiwe Sisulu, and Bulahi Sid, Minister of Cooperation of the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), on Thursday, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Technical Assistance and the Exchange of Notes on Humanitarian Assistance to the Western Saharawi refugee camps.
The MoU forms part of the political and humanitarian assistance the South African government is extending to the people of Western Sahara, the last colony on the African continent.
South Africa maintains a position that Saharawi people must be allowed to exercise their right to self-determination and independence - a stand disputed by Morocco which has occupied the territory since 1975.
The Western Sahara conflict is an ongoing conflict between the Polisario Front and the Kingdom of Morocco. The conflict is the continuation of the past insurgency by Polisario against the Spanish colonial forces in 1973–1975 and the subsequent Western Sahara War between the Polisario and Morocco (1975–1991).
Today the conflict is dominated by unarmed civil campaigns of the Polisario Front and their self-proclaimed SADR state to gain fully recognised independence for Western Sahara.