Pretoria, August 23, 2023 - Today, representatives of the tripartite alliance of the South African Government and members of the solidarity movement with Cuba offered President Miguel Díaz-Canel effusive tokens of affection.
The event was held in Freedom Park, where the memory of the 2,289 Cubans fallen in African lands for freedom is honored, as well as that of the historic leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro, to whom the president paid tribute by laying a wreath.
There, representatives of the African National Congress (ANC), COSATU, the South African Communist Party (SACP), as well as the FOCUS, among other groups, expressed their strong support to the Cuban Revolution.
In his speech in front of over a thousand people, Díaz-Canel thanked the support and solidarity with Cuba and recalled the African roots in the conformation of the Cuban nation. Africa, he emphasized, is part of the essence of our nationality.
When we say that Cuba's ties with Africa is one of blood, he added, we are referring to a double dimension: that of the African genes brought by slaves to the island, and the generous blood shed by Cubans in African lands in the liberation struggles. Addressing part of Cuba's collaboration with South Africa, he recalled how since the triumph of the Cuban revolution in 1959, "we supported the struggle against the apartheid regime".
Thus, he recalled, in 1961 the first young South Africans arrived to study in Cuba. It was the first of many similar groups that on the island received professional and military training.
"In the name of the fallen for the freedom and sovereignty of Africa, South Africa and Cuba, for peace and harmony among nations and human beings," he urged, "let us fight for friendship to become indestructible and for future generations of South Africans and Cubans to be proud of the bonds we bequeathed to them.
Solly Mapaila, general secretary of the South African Communist Party (SACP), affirmed that "Cuba and South Africa are one and the same".
In his speech, Mapaila emphatically demanded the United States to remove Cuba from the list of countries sponsoring terrorism, as well as the end of the U.S. blockade, which he described as atrocious. He also demanded the return to Cuban sovereignty of the U.S. naval base in Guantánamo.
On his side, among speakers from solidarity groups such as FOCUS, Cuban collaborators and Cuban residents, Fikie Mabalula, secretary general of the African National Congress (ANC) recalled the "supreme sacrifice" of the Cubans in the battle of Cuito Cuanavale.
The South African leader recalled how the final resolution of the 55th ANC conference called for the intensification of the struggle for the lifting of the blockade, the removal of Cuba from the US terrorism list and the return to Cuba of the Guantanamo naval base.
(Cuban Embassy in South Africa-Prensa Latina News Agency)