South African president calls for lifting Zimbabwe sanctions

HARARE, JAN 23 — South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Tuesday called for the lifting of sanctions against Zimbabwe.

Ramaphosa was speaking at an International Labor Organization meeting in Switzerland Tuesday morning ahead of the World Economic Forum (WEF).

“Zimbabwe has emerged from a very difficult political situation and they held recent elections which went well. But they still have sanctions that many countries around the world have imposed on them.

“We are some of those who have been calling on the world to relax the sanctions or lift the sanctions altogether so that Zimbabwe can begin to operate in an economic manner with the capabilities that it has,” the president was quoted as saying by the state broadcaster ZBC.

He noted that Zimbabwe is facing economic challenges which the world can assist in addressing if the sanctions are lifted.

Ramaphosa says while South Africa is in negotiations with the Zimbabwe government to find solutions to its challenges, the world must help the situation by lifting sanctions placed on the country.

“The world that has imposed sanctions against Zimbabwe would even be more helpful if those sanctions were to be lifted because then Zimbabwe’s economy can begin to recover…” he said.

The South African president said it is no longer necessary to have sanctions against Zimbabwe as the country has embarked on a path of democracy and real recovery.

Ramaphosa spoke a few hours after Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa arrived back home after cutting short his foreign trip during which he was to attend the WEF in Davos so that he could attend to challenges at home following last week’s violent protests against high fuel prices. – XINHUA