Remove illegal sanction on Zimbabwe- Ramaphosa

SOUTH African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Tuesday again called for sanctions imposed against Zimbabwe to be lifted.

Addressing the ongoing United Nations General Assemble in New York, President Ramaphosa said the illegal sanctions have caused untold suffering to ordinary Zimbabweans and have adversely affected the region.

“The sanctions that are also applied against South Africa’s neighbour Zimbabwe should also be lifted as the are imposing untold suffering on ordinary Zimbabweans but also have a collateral negative impact on neighbouring countries as such as my own country South Africa.”

President Ramaphosa also called for lifting of economic embargo imposed on Cuba about 60 years ago.

Last year in October, the US Department of State Sanctions coordinator, Mr James Obrien, admitted that his government was fully aware of the economic and social hardships induced by illegal sanctions on the country.

The US promulgated the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act (Zidera) in 2001 that cut all lines of credit to Zimbabwe from multilateral lending institutions.

Zidera, among other provisions , forbids American banks from processing transactions on behalf of Zimbabwean companies and at times individuals who are not even on the sanctions list.