South Africa will never allow 'forced removals' again: President Ramaphosa

ISTANBUL

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday said that his country will "never allow forced removals again.”

During a debate on the State of the Nation Address he delivered at the parliament, the president addressed the land issues as well as the crisis in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.

“The people of this country know the pain of forced removals. That is why we will never allow forced removals again,” the president highlighted.

He underscored that South Africa envisions a nation where “all people enjoy equal worth and equal opportunity,” a country where “the rule of law is protected and upheld.”

South Africa needs to stand “united as a nation, particularly now when we are facing harsh global winds,” according to the South African leader.

Stressing South Africa’s need for domestic solutions to domestic issues, Ramaphosa said: “This is not the time for any of us to rush off to foreign lands to lay complaints about issues that we can solve ourselves in our country.”

Last week, US President Donald Trump issued an executive order freezing all US financial aid to South Africa, citing a recently passed land expropriation law and the country’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice.

With the land expropriation legislation, South Africa aims to alleviate huge disparities in land ownership stemming from colonial settlement and the subsequent institution of racial segregation and white minority rule.

Ramaphosa also welcomed the joint summit of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the East African Community (EAC) in Tanzania that agreed upon direct dialogue among all state and non-state parties, including the M23 rebels.

The SADC-EAC joint summit outlined “confidence-building measures towards a sustainable peace, which will finally lead to the drawdown of the SADC troops,” he said.