Few days ago, the President of the republic of France, Mr Emmanuel Macron, stunned the international community, with the letter to His majesty, King Mohammed VI of Morocco, considering the desires of his government, to support the 2007 Moroccan autonomy plan, which offers the people of Western Sahara, a limited autonomy under its sovereignty. His diplomatic gesture, coincided with the 25th anniversary of the throne day, which symbolises the Moroccan monarch, as the commander of the faithful and the unity of the nation.

In the letter, President Emmanuel Macron, embraces the proposed plan by the Kingdom of Morocco, as the only basis for achieving a just, lasting and negotiated political solution, in accordance with the resolution of the United Nations Security Council. Unequivocally, the letter states that the present and the future of Western Sahara, lie with the framework of the Moroccan sovereignty.

Reminiscent of the diplomatic protocols, His majesty, King Mohammed VI, reciprocated his immense pleasure, extending his warm wishes and personal commitment, to strengthening partnership between the two countries. Reaffirming that the two countries, will work together towards a solution, that fully respects within the framework of the UN resolution, Moroccan sovereignty over its Sahara.

The government of the republic of Algeria, reacted to the diplomatic disarray, by withdrawing its ambassador to France, accusing Paris of denying the right of the people of SAHARAWI to self determination. This happened in the turn of events of Algiers calling Morocco and France” colonial powers, new and old”.

The diplomatic tensions in the Sahel region gathers momentum, against the backdrop of the numerous United Nations resolutions, recognising the POLISARIO Front, as the only legitimate representative of the indigenous people of the SAHARAWI, and the necessity for a UN sponsored referendum, paving way for the democratic will of the people of Western Sahara, to determine their own destiny.

The determination of the people of Western Sahara to achieve the goals of their struggles for freedom and equality, has faced fierce resistance from the kingdom of Morocco, with the political, financial and military support from the United States of America and most of her entente from the European Union including Israel. Most of the advanced countries of the western world are complicit of the atrocities of genocide committed against the indigenous people of the SAHARAWI and Palestine.

The panorama of the political situation in Western Sahara, brings to the fore, the political and philosophical question by the author of the Communist Manifesto, Karl Marx, which most of the scholars and historians from the wide ideological divide, regard its topicality the most farsighted, surpassing the imaginations of the modern world. The rhetorical question of how the bourgeoisie, by rapid improvement of all instruments of production, by the immensely facilitated means of communication, creates a world after its own image.

Therefore, the letter of the President of the republic of France, confirms the saying from the African academia, that it is true that even to this day and time, France still fear the political, social and economic independence of Africa, while the African people of the Sahel, are still confronting the empire that no longer exist but refusing to die. This is the essence the French metropole, with the assistance of the kingdom of Morocco, seeks to plunder and exploit the material economic resources of the indigenous people of SAHARAWI, benefiting from the currency arrangements for precious foreign exchange and exportation of raw materials.

This is a testimony, that from its own image, the advanced industrial world of capitalism, requires the market outside of itself, from the peripheral third world of Latin America, Asia and Africa, in order to realise the demands of surplus value. Transforming millions of the people in the former colonies and semi colonies, as a source of supply for its means of production and reservoir of labour power for its wage system.

During his lifetime, Karl Marx, expressed himself unambiguously against the atrocities of imperialism and colonialism. He stood firm against the ravages of British colonial oppression and exploitation in India and French colonial oppression and exploitation in Algeria.

Even during his few months stay in Algeria, during the winter of 1882, when his illness of bronchitis, forced him to escape the harsh winter of Europe, to a warm environment of the Arab Sahel, he remained outspoken against how the French appropriated for themselves the land belonging to the local native population, calling the crimes” destruction of the indigenous collective property and its transformation into an object of free purchase and sale”.

He regarded this as a total strategy by the French colonial power, to give the occupying French settlers in Algeria, the vast amounts of the land belonging to the Arab people, and therefore tearing them from the national bond of the soil, and destroying the foundations of society. For centuries France has been the leading force of occupation of the Sahel, plundering the political, social, cultural and economic life of the suffering people of the region.

The young generation of the African continent and especially the region of the Sahel, must take cognisance, that amongst others, Karl Marx, harvested the treasure store of his philosophy, from the encounters of his first experiences, from the revolution in France, which ushered the new epoch in the history of the development of human society, of a transition from the epoch of the ancient regimes of monarchs and feudal lords, to the new epoch of human civilisation and modernity, the epoch of the age of enlightenment, of liberty, equality and fraternity.

His first experience of the storming of the Bastille, the symbol of the royal tyranny, which bolstered a new political stage, accentuating the French Constituent Assembly, signing the declaration of the rights of man and citizens, dissipating the pediments of the ancient regimes, and therefore ushering in a era in the history of the people of the world, of a democratic society, based on the freedom of speech and representation government by the will of the people. What I proudly call his sphere of influence from the horizons of the harbinger of the new society.

Philosophers of politology, have since the beginning of the century, contributed immensely towards the enrichment of the complex theoretical debate, about the contemporary challenges, confronting the modern African post colonial state. I mean the theoretical conception of the phenomenon of neo-colonialism.

Through extensive research and scientific studies, they have become convinced that the phenomenon of neo-colonialism, is one of the critical stages in the evolution of the development of human society. Defining the complex nature of the political, social and economic relationships between the colonial powers and former colonies and semi colonies.

Comrade Kwame Nkrumah, the father of the African independent movement and the first President of the first independent African state, Republic of Ghana, in one of his historical works” Neo-Colonialism, the highest stage of imperialism” gives the most brilliant and profound historical analysis of the phenomenon of neo-colonialism. The beauty of his synopsis, is the extent to which he explicates, the influence of neo[1]colonialism in the development of modern society.

He says: “Neo- Colonialism is also the worst form of imperialism. For those who practice it, it means power without responsibility and for those who suffer from it, it means exploitation without redress.

In the days of the old-fashioned colonialism, the imperial power had at least to explain and justify at home the actions it was taking abroad. Even the colonies who served the ruling imperial power, could at least look to its protection against violent move by their opponents. With neo-colonialism neither is the case”.

I take the gesture of the letter from the President of the Republic of France, to His majesty, King Mohammed VI, as a gratuity to the kingdom of Morocco, for the support of the horrendous acts of genocide committed by the racist state of Israel against the people of Palestine and the acts of genocide against the people of SAHARAWI. It is a matter of true facts that the kingdom of Morocco buys its arms from the state of Israel.

Monopolies of the European metropolis of France, Spain and Germany have expropriated for themselves the future of the indigenous people of the area, with French companies having taken monopoly of all agricultural and food production of the occupied land, Spain having taken monopoly of the energy and the fishing industry of the occupied land and a Germany the distribution and logistical monopoly of the occupied land of Western Sahara.

It is for this reason that the three vagabonds of the European entente, cannot play any constructive role for the peaceful resolution of the conflict in the Sahel, because of the massive economic interests they protect in the occupied territories, belonging to the indigenous people of the SAHARAWI. This is the highest price the suffering people of Western Sahara have to endure, in the hands of forces of imperialism and neo-colonialism.

To the beautiful men and women of the desert temple of the Sahel, the peace loving people of the independent republic of the SAHARAWI, history will not come to judge you on how much sufferings you endured, in your struggles for freedom and dignity, but by your indomitable acts of heroism and resilience in the face of adversity. You are the children of the great desert kingdom of humanity.

The greatest testimonies of the history of the struggles for the liberation of humanity is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall. The victory of the struggles of the people of the Western Sahara is the victory of the struggles of the people of the world.

The African continent will remain incomplete without the freedom and dignity of the people of Western Sahara. We are the shining lights of our struggles for freedom.

In our lifetime, we shall live to see the triumphs of the human spirit, of the episodes of human courage and tenacity, as we strive to build a better world for all. This is a task bestowed by history to all generations of mankind.

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Ambassador Phatse Justice Piitso is a member of the African National Congress, South Africa, writing this article in his personal capacity