ESWATINI PART OF 42ND SADC SUMMIT IN DRC

MBABANE – Eswatini will be represented during the 42nd SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government agenda.

SADC is the acronym for South African Development Community. Principal Secretary (PS) in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Norman Ntshangase, said the country was represented in the summit. “All I know is that Eswatini is represented in the 42nd SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government, which is expected to commence today and end tomorrow in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo,” he said. Ntshangase was asked whether the ministry was aware that Eswatini was part of the agenda of the meeting as stated by SABC News. He said nothing such had been formally communicated to them except that Eswatini would be part of the summit.

Theme

This year’s theme is: “Promoting industrialisation through, agro-processing, mineral beneficiation, and regional value chains for inclusive and resilient economic growth”. The PS did not indicate who Eswatini’s representatives at the summit were. The news about Eswatini being part of the agenda  was confirmed by South Africa’s Minister of International Relations and Co-operation, Naledi Pandor, on Monday afternoon. Pandor stated that SADC was grappling with the issue of peace and security in certain parts of the region. She said regional leaders would   meet in a bid to tackle burning issues.

She further stated that South Africa’s President, Cyril Ramaphosa, outgoing chair of the SADC organ for politics, defence and security cooperation, would give a comprehensive report on the state of security. Pandor confirmed that the South African president would be the one conducting the discussions on security. “We are ending our term in the SADC organ and we are handing over to Namibia, as incoming chair and our president will report on the progress that has been made with regard to deployment of personnel from various SADC countries as well as Rwanda, where they have bilateral in terms of troops. We must give an assessment as you know that terrorists continue to harm people,” said Pandor. She further indicated that Ramaphosa was expected to give an update on the situation in northern parts of Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado, where a SADC mission was deployed to repel terror attacks and the situation in Lesotho and Eswatini as well.

Chairperson

Meanwhile, Democratic Republic of Congo President Felix Tshisekedi, is expected to take over as the new SADC Chairperson from Malawian President Larazus Chakwera. During the summit, regional leaders would deliberate on promoting industrialisation through agro-processing, mineral beneficiation and regional value chains for inclusive and resilient economic growth. Advocate Sipho Mantula said issues of natural resources in the region had been one of the conflicts triggered and it was  quite important that SADC members met in Kinshasa to deal  with the elephant in the room. “There is a need to manage and harmonise relationships between communities and multinationals that are exploiting resources and they must focus on democracy projects like what we see in Angola and strengthen the 2050 vision and consider the role of civil society as well,” said Mantula.

Worth noting is that  the 42nd  SADC Summit  will be preceded by meetings of the SADC Senior Officials and Council of Ministers  who prepared the agenda  for the Heads of State  and Government Summit. The SADC Council of Ministers oversees the functioning and development of SADC and ensures that policies are properly implemented. The council consists of ministers from each member State, usually from the ministries of Foreign Affairs, Economic Planning, or Finance.

Post your comment

Your name:

Your e-mail address:

Add your comments:

Please enter the code you see in the image:

Image:

Code: