PRETORIA, Nov 10 (NNN-SANEWS) — South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa has been elected as the interim Chairperson of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) following the regional bloc’s virtual Extraordinary Summit of Heads of State and Government held on Nov 7.
The decision follows the Republic of Madagascar’s decision to relinquish its role as SADC Chair due to recent political developments that have affected its capacity to fulfil the responsibilities of the position. In line with SADC’s Treaty provisions, South Africa, as the Deputy Chair, assumes interim leadership of the regional body until August 2026.
In his opening remarks at the Summit, Ramaphosa reaffirmed the importance of regional unity and decisive leadership in addressing the challenges facing the region.
“We gather today not merely to deliberate on the agenda before us, but to reaffirm our shared commitment to the peace, stability and prosperity of our region. Our collective sense of regional solidarity at this time is our strongest currency,” he said.
He further emphasised the need for pragmatic solutions to the region’s socio-economic challenges.
“The people of our region continue to look to us for leadership that delivers the vision of a peaceful, inclusive and industrialised region, which we have set ourselves to realise in 2050. But they cannot wait for that anticipated year to fulfil their current needs,” he said.
According to the Summit communiqué, South Africa will steer SADC under the existing theme adopted in August 2025, which is ‘Advancing Industrialisation, Agricultural Transformation, and Energy Transition for a Resilient SADC’.
The SADC Secretariat will engage Member States, in line with the principle of rotation, to identify a new Incoming Chairperson (Deputy Chairperson) by Nov 30.
The Extraordinary Summit extended condolences to the families affected by recent unrest in Madagascar and Tanzania, and congratulated leaders in Malawi, Seychelles and Tanzania on their recent elections.
Summit participants expressed appreciation to President Ramaphosa for convening the meeting and accepting to lead the regional body. The President of Zimbabwe, Dr Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa, who served as outgoing Chair, offered to host selected SADC meetings in Zimbabwe during the interim period.
Ramaphosa said the region must continue to act with “urgency and foresight to stabilise the present while safeguarding the future”. — NNN-SANEWS
