South Africa’s decision to accept a new ambassador  is carefully timed to coincide with its hosting an international conference in supporting an end to that occupation and self-determination  of the Saharawi people.

If, as expected, Rabat’s new envoy arrives in Pretoria shortly, his first job will be to report on the host government’s strong condemnation of Morocco’s theft of resources from Western Sahara and its defiance of the international community by persisting with its occupation.

Morocco is evidently prepared to swallow its pride in order to normalize relations with the primary African political player.

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Africa’s last colonial  power could not even secure the votes of the  continent for the right to host the world’s most watched sporting  event in 2026.

The joint bid of the United State, Canada and Mexico to host the 2026 football World Cup promises to earn $11 billion for FIFA.

That’s more than twice what Morocco could have hoped to score.

At best a B-league economic player, Morocco spends many times what it can afford to maintain its illegal occupation of Western Sahara.

The disappointed Kingdom once again has to consider the reality that once faced the apartheid regime: that no normal sport is possible in an abnormal society.

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An adviser to Europe’s top court says the deal should be declared invalid because the court has already declared Morocco does not have any legitimate hold on the former Spanish colony.

The United Nations says the Western Sahara has a right to self-determination.

Campaigners are legally contesting the EU’s trade deals with Morocco because they include the desert region.

The European Union Court of Justice’s Advocate General Melchior Wathelet says Britain’s  wrong to uphold the EU-Morocco fisheries deal.

Wathelet maintains the deal does not respect the right of the people of Western Sahara to self-determination.

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South African authorities have set a May 18 court day in the High Court of the windy city to hear a petition by the Western Sahara ruling party for the return of the 55 000 tonne cargo.

The maritime world is somewhat aghast at the drama playing out in Port Elizabeth.

Publications serving the industry refer to what they call an obscure decades old dispute involving the desert country illegally occupied by Morocco.

Polisario Front, ruling the Western Sahara .says the phosphates were stolen by the occupiers and shipped for sale in New Zealand.

The Port Elizabeth High Court will hear that the European Court of Justice has expressly found that the Western Sahara and its riches do not belong to Morocco.

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commission chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma of of blocking its efforts to join the AU.

The North African Kingdom refuses to end its illegal occupation of Western Sahara or to accept this country as a fellow member of the continental organisation.

Rabat’s strongly worded statement accused AU commission head Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma of  trying to thwart Morocco’s decision to regain its natural and legitimate place within its pan-African institutional family.

It accuses her of taking orders from Algeria.

Morocco blames its neighbor for the  international problems it encounters as a result of its occupation of Western Sahara.

It quit the AU’s  predecessor, the OAU when it recognised the Western Sahara.

Morocco is clearly fooling itself if it believes it can join the African Union without addressing what is called Africa’s last colonial issue.

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Her remarks at the ministerial conference will vie repeated at the summit today where she’s heading the South African delegation.

South Africa’s muscular support for Palestine and Western Sahara puts it at odds with the respective occupying power Israel and Morocco.

Foreign policy chief Maite Nkoana-Mashabane recalls that President Nelson Mandela said South Africa will not be free as long as Palestine is not free.

She calls Morocco’s illegal occupation of the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic the last colonial issue in Africa – which is anathema to the 120-member Non Aligned Movement.

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Morocco’s decision to build a road in the buffer zone with the area its occupies illegally has caused armed clashes with Saharawi fighters.

A ceasefire negotiated in 1991 between Morocco and the armed wing of the Saharawi people, the Polisario Front ended 17 years of fighting following Morocco’s invasion and occupation of the territory.

That truce has been monitored by a UN force known as MINURSO.

Morocco has several times reneged on promises to allow the Saharawi people to determine their future by way of a referendum.

Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic President Jatri Adduh has expressed his disquiet to the United Nations Security Council about Morocco’s failure to make any progress on this as ordered in a resolution by the UN powerhouse in April.

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His death comes at a sensitive time for his country that’s been illegally occupied by Morocco for more than 40 years.

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The Saharawi  Republic’s declared 40 days of mourning following the death of Mohamed Abdelaziz.

Algeria, which houses the administration in exile of that country, has declared a week of mourning.

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon has expressed his sadness at Abdelaziz’s passing and called him a central figure in the search for a settlement of the Western Sahara dispute.

Ban’s  infuriated Morocco by referring to its occupation of the territory.

It’s expelled part of a United Nations peace-keeping mission deployed in Western Sahara since a ceasefire in the war between Moroccan invaders and the Polisario Front in 1991.

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