Madam Deputy Speaker, for over four decades the Cuban people have been subjected to a cruel, unjust and inhuman blockade that has cost countless human and material losses. The blockade on Cuba is an act of economic war for which there is no legal justification other than an expression of the United States' hostile and aggressive policies towards the Cuban people.
Since 1992, the UN General Assembly has approved a resolution that demands the end of the blockade imposed on Cuba, with 183 countries voting that year in favour of the resolution. The South African government supports the UN resolution and has worked actively to strengthen bilateral relations with Cuba, including co-operation in the economic, commercial and financial spheres.
The ANC has consistently called for the blockade to be lifted, and in its 1994 conference resolutions, which have been reaffirmed in subsequent ANC conferences, the ANC described the blockade as a gross violation of the right of the Cuban people to choose their own social system. We do so not only in defence of the rights of the Cuban people but also in defence of the rights of the people of the international community. [Applause.]