Statement by His Excellency Mr. João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço, President of the Republic of Angola and the Chairperson of SADC, calling for the Lifting of all Sanctions on the Republic of Zimbabwe
25 October 2023
1. The Southern African Development Community (SADC) reaffirms its unwavering solidarity with the Government and People of the Republic of Zimbabwe in calling for lifting all Sanctions that remain imposed on the Republic of Zimbabwe.
2. This appeal by SADC for the immediate lifting of sanctions on the Republic of Zimbabwe rests on the backdrop of growing concern over the impact these sanctions continue to pose on the country and the SADC region.
3. As a Regional Family, SADC firmly echoes that the targeted sanctions geared at a few individuals in Zimbabwe adversely impact the country. It is now over twenty years since the imposition of these targeted sanctions – two decades marred by the inability of the people of Zimbabwe to fully achieve their potentials across various sectors as a nation.
4. This reality, which is not new to the International Community, damages Zimbabwe’s image and limits its potential for access to financial and capital markets. The extent of this block to Zimbabwe’s socio-economic growth on the livelihood of its people represents a modern-day atrocity which we, as the SADC Family, strongly feel is an impediment that leaves one of our Members behind from our common quest for regional integration, growth and prosperity.
5. SADC, therefore, reiterates its wish that the International Community factors the Report of the Special Rapporteur on the negative impact of unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights, made by Alena Gouhan, on her visit to Zimbabwe (A/HRC/51/33/Add.2), which proposes the lifting of these sanctions within the ambit of key principles of International Law.
6. Our call for lifting sanctions on Zimbabwe is made as a firm request to the International Community for a new rhetoric, story, and direction for the country. An unconditional lift of sanctions shall create the conditions for Zimbabwe and the SADC region to consolidate its collective efforts to spearhead national and regional growth and substantively develop in critical areas of good governance, human rights, and social cohesion. It is, therefore, incumbent on all parties concerned to do our parts in re-writing the discourse for the Government and people of the Republic of Zimbabwe.
7. In a time where global insecurities pose Food Security and other pertinent challenges to the African Continent and SADC Region, the sanctions imposed on the Republic of Zimbabwe create an alarming double-imposed threat to its peoples’ livelihood and survival.
8. As SADC, we remain welcoming to support, through the necessary means, the earnest lifting of sanctions on the Republic of Zimbabwe and trust that the humanity we share as the global community shall guide the relevant move in this direction by all relevant actors through tangible actions.
Mr. João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço
President of the Republic of Angola
and Chairperson of SADC
25 October 2023
