Ramaphosa Demands Immediate, Unconditional Lifting of Sanctions on Zimbabwe
JOHANNESBURG – SADC Chairperson and South African President Cyril Matamela Ramaphosa has called for the complete and unconditional lifting of sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe, saying the measures are an additional burden on its people and the entire region.
Ramaphosa made the call in his official statement to commemorate SADC Anti-Sanctions Day, observed today, 25th of October 2026.
“Today, the 25th of October 2026, the Southern African Development Community joins the Government and the people of the Republic of Zimbabwe to commemorate the SADC Anti-Sanctions Day, under the theme Leveraging Regional Integration and Global Partnerships for Economic Transformation Beyond Illegal Sanctions,” Ramaphosa said.
“Today, our Regional Economic Community sends one message to the world: we seek the complete and unconditional lifting of sanctions on our sister nation, the Republic of Zimbabwe.”
The SADC Chairperson said this year’s commemoration is especially important given increasing global geopolitical and economic challenges and their significant effects on national and regional economies.
“The sanctions imposed on the Republic of Zimbabwe therefore create an additional burden for its people amid an already challenging continental and international environment,” he said.
Ramaphosa said SADC appreciates this year’s theme, which underscores the need to transform the global approach to the current sanctions against Zimbabwe and fully liberate the country and its people, enabling them to achieve their rightful socio-economic fulfilment.
He reiterated that SADC remains resolute in calling for the lifting of sanctions and will pursue the cause with utmost commitment, in the true spirit of regionalism and collective regional integration.
“Such integration should support all Member States in achieving prosperity, particularly since sanctions against Zimbabwe are essentially sanctions against the entire SADC region,” Ramaphosa said.
He appealed to countries that have imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe to prioritize dialogue to secure the lifting of what SADC terms unwarranted sanctions.
“We reiterate our wish for those countries that have imposed illegal sanctions on Zimbabwe to give pride of place to dialogue in order to secure the lifting of these unwarranted sanctions. More importantly, they must do what is right for the seventeen million people who make up the Zimbabwean nation,” he said.
“The time has indeed come for the world to give Zimbabwe complete freedom from sanctions — and, with it, the chance to transform its people’s lives and livelihoods socially and economically.”
SADC Anti-Sanctions Day was set aside by the regional bloc in 2019 to call for the removal of sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe by the United States, United Kingdom, and the European Union.
Ramaphosa concluded: “I wish you all humble reflections and a blessed commemoration of the SADC Anti-sanctions Day.”
The statement was issued on 25 October 2026 from the Office of the SADC Chairperson.