In a meeting that was held on the 4th of July, 2013 Dr. Dauod Zatari and 'Richard Baloyi, the South African governmental minister of Cooperative and traditional, accompanied by a number of staff of his ministry discussed and studied the possibility of a joint cooperation agreement with municipalities of South Africa to implement joint projects and raise the level of coordination. Members of the municipal council and representatives from the Ministry of Local Government attended the meeting as well in order to see the situation in the city of Hebron, and to study the possibilities of mutual cooperation.
Dr. Zatari welcomed the delegation and expressed his pleasure for the delegation's visit to Hebron demonstrating the good relations that unite the citizens and the leaders of the two countries. He also demonstarted the situation that Palestine and South Africa went through before liberation from occupation and the racism and violations of both human rights and international conventions that Palestinians go through on daily basis by the Israeli forces.
In addition, the mayor illustrated the political history of Hebron and the suffering of the citizens as a result of the Israeli occupation and due to the presence of settlers in the old town and on the edges. Dr. Zatari also illustrated the worshiping, praying and movement restrictions that are implemented by the Israeli occupation towards the Palestinian citizens claiming that it’s for security purposes; thus this is a violation of all laws and international conventions. Furthermore, the collapse of the local economy due to those closures and restrictions was discussed by the Mayor as well.
Moreover, Dr. Zaatari illustrated that Palestinians with all its components and its leaderships believe in peace and consider it a way to establish a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital and seek to achieve that with maintaining the rights approved by the UN resolutions.
The Mayor also illustrated his willingness to create cooperation agreements with South African municipalities to benefit from the exchange of experiences, create business joint ventures, verify the interest of the parties, contribute to the mutual development and improve the service provided to citizens to help reduce the burdens of everyday life.
On the other hand, Baloyi showed sympathy and support to the Palestinian people and their legitimate rights and stressed the importance of the Palestinian-Israeli negotiations to achieve peace.
He also stated that he looks forward and hope that prosperity is achieved in the region in the existence of an independent State of Palestine on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital, stressing his country's readiness to continue to provide support for Palestine in several areas.