With the exception of the China-Africa Summit, the South African president has been calling on all international forums to advocate for the Polisario Front. In New York, he had the opportunity to demonstrate on two occasions his support for the separatist movement. Diplomatic relations between Morocco and South Africa are not getting better any time soon. This is manifested by the quick reaction of Cyril Ramaphosa to the content of the royal message before the participants of the Nelson Mandela Peace Summit, held on September 24th at the UN headquarters in New York. A message in which King Mohammed VI spoke of the actions of South Africa's first black president in favor of peace, and reminded the ANC, the ruling party that Ramaphosa heads, of the contribution of the Kingdom in the fight against the apartheid regime. «To the sirens of separatism and all forms of instability, Mandela opposed unity, aware that the growth of our continent goes through the territorial integrity of the states that compose it», he said. Ramaphosa again advocates in favor of the Polisario «The late Mandela never ceased to invite to a collective introspection the humanist values he has brought and to transcend divisions, be they political or economic, and sensibly, transcend them», the Sovereign also raised. These messages however did not really weaken the position of the current South African president who demonstrated it twice. First on the occasion of his speech at the Nelson Mandela Peace Summit, Cyril Ramaphosa has called for supporting «the people of Western Sahara» in their quest «for sovereignty». Moreover, he compared the Polisario to the status of Palestine. The next day, the president persists and signs : from the platform of the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly, the head of the South African state has once again advocated for the Polisario. He urged the international community to intensify «efforts to secure the right of the people of Western Sahara to self-determination and full national sovereignty», as reported by South Africa's eNews Channel Africa. The hopes that followed the unprecedented meeting held on November 29, 2017 in Abidjan, between King Mohammed VI and former President Jacob Zuma, regarding a rapid normalization of relations between Morocco and South Africa are almost destroyed. For the record, on the 20th of August, the King appointed Youssef Amrani as ambassador to Pretoria.
