South Africa’s uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party, under the leadership of former President Jacob Zuma, has firmly rejected support for the Polisario Front and instead thrown its weight behind Morocco’s Autonomy Plan for Western Sahara.
This move marks a significant departure from the stance of the ruling African National Congress (ANC), which has long supported the Algerian-backed Polisario group. The MK Party, which emerged as a major political player after securing 58 parliamentary seats, outlined its position in a detailed 17-page statement titled “South Africa & Morocco: A Strategic Partnership for African Unity, Economic Emancipation and Territorial Integrity.”
The party, founded by Zuma in December 2023 following his break from the ANC, asserts that Western Sahara has historically been part of Morocco, long before Spanish colonization began in the late 1800s. It underscores pre-colonial tribal allegiances to the Moroccan monarchy as the foundation of Rabat’s claim.
Highlighting Morocco’s 1975 Green March — during which more than 350,000 civilians advanced peacefully into the region — the document portrays it as a defining moment in African decolonization, describing it as both peaceful and symbolic of national unity.
On Morocco’s autonomy proposal, the MK Party describes it as a pragmatic solution that offers the Sahrawi people meaningful self-governance while maintaining Morocco’s sovereignty. This, the party contends, renders the Polisario’s campaign for independence obsolete and counterproductive.
The shift comes amid a growing trend across the continent, as several African nations, including Ghana and Kenya, have recently withdrawn recognition of the Polisario. The MK Party’s alignment with Morocco thus reflects an evolving continental consensus on the issue.
The party also criticizes the ANC’s continued allegiance to the Polisario, suggesting that the official foreign policy is increasingly disconnected from broader African trends. Zuma’s earlier meeting with Morocco’s King Mohammed VI during a 2017 summit in Abidjan had already drawn internal criticism from ANC loyalists, highlighting divisions that persist today.
The MK Party ties its pro-Morocco stance to historical solidarity, recalling that Morocco was the first nation to provide financial and military assistance to uMkhonto weSizwe in 1962. The document emphasizes the need for renewed cooperation between South Africa and Morocco in diplomacy, trade, infrastructure, energy, agriculture, tourism, and digital innovation.
It also criticizes the ANC’s position as inconsistent, noting the contradiction in supporting separatist causes abroad while contending with internal secessionist movements, such as those in South Africa’s Cape region. The document draws parallels with Algeria’s approach, which opposes its own separatist group, the MAK, while backing the Polisario.
Morocco severed ties with South Africa in 2004 after Pretoria recognized the self-declared Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR). Since then, Rabat has gained widespread international backing for its sovereignty over Western Sahara, with around 120 countries reportedly supporting its position.
Meanwhile, the Polisario’s membership in the African Union is increasingly under review, with diplomatic sources indicating that conversations about its removal from the continental body are gaining traction.
The MK Party closes its statement by calling for a renewed partnership between South Africa and Morocco as part of a broader African resurgence — one shaped and led by Africans themselves, free from outdated armed struggles and separatist ideologies.