In May 2019 Africanews reported that South Africa’s ruling African National Congress congratulated Eritrea on its 28th independence anniversary, the first such celebration after the 2018 peace with Ethiopia.
The ANC statement praised Isaias Afwerki’s government in language that sat uneasily beside Eritrean exile criticism of indefinite national service and closed politics.
Independence-day diplomacy between liberation movements still shapes how African parties talk about Eritrea, even when rights groups describe the same state as highly repressive.
Kept as Horn geopolitics archive, the ANC salute marks how party-to-party solidarity outlived the short border-opening spring of 2018–19.
Sources: Africanews