The summit will “take stock of progress made in promoting
and deepening regional integration”.
Foreign Affairs and International Trade Minister Dr
Frederick Shava is already in Malawi for preparatory meetings that precede the
summit.
President Lazarus Chakwera of Malawi will take over as
chairperson of the bloc from Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi, while a new
Executive Secretary to head the SADC Secretariat in Botswana will be elected
following the expiry of the tenure of incumbent Dr Stergomena Lawrence Tax.
Dr Tax, the first woman to hold the post, has served the
maximum of two four-year terms and under the term limits set by SADC, cannot be
reappointed.
In a recent statement, SADC said there would be a limited
number of delegates at the summit and the ministerial meeting held before the
heads of State gather in order to observe Covid-19 protocols.
“The summit will take stock of progress made in promoting
and deepening regional integration in line with SADC’s aspirations as espoused
in the Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan 2020–2030 and Vision
2050, which envisage a peaceful, inclusive, competitive, middle-to high-income
industrialised region where all citizens enjoy sustainable economic well-being,
justice and freedom.”
A series of meetings leading up to the summit have already
been held or are planned, with the SADC Organ Troika Summit expected today.
The Organ Troika, formally known as the Organ on Politics,
Security and Defence Cooperation, is mandated to secure and guarantee peace in
the region. It will likely be seized by developments in the DRC, eSwatini,
Lesotho and Mozambique.
Already regional countries have decided to intervene in
Mozambique to deal with an insurgency in Cabo Delgado province that has so far
killed 2 500 people and displaced more than 800 000.
On 23 June, the 16-member regional bloc, acting on
recommendations from a technical team that had been deployed in Mozambique,
agreed to deploy its Standby Force under the framework of SADC Mutual Defence.
The technical team recommended sending 3000 troops with land, air and naval
capabilities.
On August 9, the SADC Mission in Mozambique formally joined
the campaign. The force includes troops from South Africa (1 495), Botswana
(300), Lesotho (125) and Angola (20). Zimbabwe is contributing 304 specialist
military instructors to boost the Mozambican military’s capacity. Herald
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