11 July 2007 :

Italian Foreign Affairs Minister Massimo D'Alema publicly thanked his South African colleague Nkosazama Dlamini Zuma for the African country’s support for the proposed UN Moratorium against capital punishment. 'I want to thank for supporting the moratorium. They treat it as a very important process for fundamental human rights ' has declared their desire to co-sponsor the initiative.
The South African Minister explained that ‘in Africa there are some countries that have abolished the death penalty. They will be the key group in the continent for supporting the initiative. ‘The next step will be to convince the others that are yet to abolish the death penalty.’