Global Policy Forum

South Africa and Morocco, Never the Best of Friends, Are at Loggerheads Over Western Sahara.

By Rory Carroll

The opposite ends of Africa have drifted further apart following a diplomatic clash between Morocco and South Africa over who should rule Western Sahara. The two countries were beginning to patch up relations after their rival bids to host the 2010 football world cup - Morocco was smarting over its loss - when South Africa formally recognised the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic. There was no better way to kick sand in Rabat's face. Within hours of the announcement, it recalled its ambassador from Pretoria - a sign that it was very, very cross.

Western Sahara is a bit like Northern Ireland, Kosovo or Kurdistan: it is a troubled place, with unresolved issues of sovereignty. However, the difference between it and those places is that few have heard of it. A vast swathe of sand and scrub, it is home to the Saharawi, a hardy people who consider themselves to be a nation. The Saharawis had hoped for independence when Spanish colonialists left in 1975, but Morocco annexed the territory.

Around 200,000 Saharawis fled and formed a guerrilla movement, the Polisario, which fought the Moroccans to a stalemate. In 1991, the UN brokered the ceasefire that was to lead to a referendum on independence. Years later, there is no sign of a ballot. The Saharawis languish in bleak refugee camps on the border with Algeria. Neither side can agree on voter rolls, but most analysts blame the delay on Morocco, which senses it would lose the referendum. The UN sent in James Baker to try to resolve the situation, but not even this Washington bruiser could break the logjam. After years of frustration, he resigned in June.

South Africa's patience ran out earlier this month. "We have taken the decision, and are implementing the decision, of having diplomatic relations with the Sahrawi republic," the foreign minister, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, said. Nelson Mandela had promised to do the same when elected president in 1994, but France and the US persuaded him to wait, saying that a referendum would happen soon.

South Africa's decision was triggered by this month's opening of the pan-African parliament in Johannesburg, a continental initiative close to the heart of the president, Thabo Mbeki, of which the Saharawi republic is a member. Cock-a-hoop, the Saharawis wasted no time raising their flag at their embassy in Pretoria.

Morocco was furious. "We deplore this decision of South Africa, which surprises us and disappoints us," a foreign ministry statement said. Relations between Rabat and Pretoria, never warm, will become frostier at the expense of South African firms which had an eye on King Mohammed's opening economy, according to South Africa's Institute of International Affairs. Nor will the row help Pretoria's bid for a permanent seat on the UN security council.

For Morocco, the implications are potentially graver. Around 76 countries have reportedly recognised the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic, but few of them carry the weight of South Africa, a respected, middle-ranking player. Rabat's nightmare is that the dyke will break, unleashing a flood of international pressure to grant the Saharawi republic independence, or at least a significant degree of autonomy. Turkey and the European parliament are believed to have been emboldened by Pretoria's recent decision.

However, as a pro-western Arab nation signed up to the "war on terror", Morocco can still count on the US and France, two powers with no strategic interest in championing the Saharawis.

To those in the refugee camps near Tindouf, a windswept, scorching wasteland on the Algerian border, the diplomatic point-scoring is largely abstract. Across the land they call home is a long, sandy barrier from which Moroccan helmets gleam. South African recognition was a victory, but it will not tear down the wall.

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