Online Reporter
Sadc Council of Ministers meet
Farirai Machivenyika
Senior Reporter
The Sadc Extraordinary Summit being held at the new Parliament Building in Mt Hampden is in its second day this Monday with a meeting of the Council of Ministers to consider recommendations made by the Ministerial Committee of the Organ Troika on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation on Sunday.
The Extraordinary Summit was convened to discuss, mainly, the security situation in eastern DRC and the region in general.
The DRC has been plagued by conflict, especially in its eastern regions, resulting in the displacement of over 6,4 million people and the death of thousands.
The MCO comprises of Tanzania (outgoing chair), Malawi (incoming chair) and Zambia, while the Council is made up of made up of all Foreign Affairs Ministers of Member States.
Sadc deployed its mission to DRC on December 15 last year on a one-year mandate as a regional response to address the security situation in that country and restore peace, security and stability to pave the way for sustainable development.
SADC Extraordinary Summit: Here is what you need to know
SADC’s Extraordinary Summit of Heads of State and Government that is currently underway in Harare was prompted by the situation in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
SADC’s chairperson, President Mnangagwa will chair the Summit, which will receive update reports on the progress of the SADC Mission in the DRC (SAMIDRC).
SADC deployed its mission in DRC on the 15th of December 2023 on a one-year mandate as a regional response to address the security situation in that country and restore peace, security and stability to pave the way for sustainable development.
What is happening in Eastern DRC?
The country is experiencing one of the world’s humanitarian crises where the Congolese army and its allies are fighting numerous rebel groups, including the March 23 Movement (M23), for control of territory in the eastern part.
The fighting appears to have intensified this year, resulting in mass casualties and displacement. The violence is characterised by the deliberate targeting of civilians, schools, hospitals, and displacement camps.
The conflict has resulted in DRC experiencing one of the world’s largest internal displacement crises, with an estimated 7.3 million people displaced. The displacement has exacerbated outbreaks of cholera and measles as people scupper for shelter and food.
Preceding Meetings
The Extraordinary SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government will be preceded by the Extraordinary SADC Organ Troika Summit, which will be chaired by Dr Hussein Ali Mwinyi, President of Zanzibar and chairperson of the Revolutionary Council representing Her Excellency Dr Samia Suluhu Hassan, the President of the United Republic of Tanzania and Chairperson of the SADC Organ on Politics Defence and Security Cooperation.
Other preceding meetings are that of SADC Senior Officials, the Ministerial Committee of the Organ on Politics Defence and Security Cooperation and the Council of Ministers.
South African Deputy President Paul Mashatile is received by Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube on his arrival at the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport this morning ahead of the SADC Extraordinary Summit in the afternoon. – Pictures: Believe Nyakudjara
Extraordinary Summit of the Troika sits
Farai Machivenyika
Zanzibar President Ali Hussein Mwinyi, who is standing in for Tanzania President, Dr Samia Suluhu Hassan has delivered her remarks for the opening of the Extraordinary Summit of the Organ Troika on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation.
Dr Suluhu is the Chairperson of the Organ Troika.
The Extraordinary Summit of the Troika is being held as part of the preparations for the Extraordinary Summit of Heads of State and Government to be held later today.
Our crew is at the new Parliament Building in Mt Hampden and we will be giving you live updates of the summit.
Delegates follow proceedings
Eswatini Prime Minister tours GeoPomona Waste to Energy Project in Harare
Trust Freddy
Herald Correspondent
The Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Eswatini, Russel Mmiso Dlamini who is in the country for the Extraordinary Summit of SADC Heads of State and Government, has toured the GeoPomona Waste to Energy Project in Harare this morning.
Mr Dlamini was accompanied by his country’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Pholile Paulette Dlamini Shakantu.
The Minister of Skills, Audit and Development, Professor Paul Mavhima, and Geo Pomona Waste Management chief executive officer and executive chairman, Dr Dilesh Nguwaya, led the delegation in touring the plant.
The Eswatini delegation expressed keen interest in replicating the same project in their country to solve the waste management challenges that they are facing.
SADC Troika chairperson rallies region to support DRC
Farirai Machivenyika
Senior Reporter
The Extraordinary Summit of the Sadc Organ Troika on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation opened this morning amid calls for the region to maintain their support for the DRC to achieve peace in the eastern part of the country.
Troika chairperson and Tanzania President Dr Samia Suluhu Hassan said this in a speech read on her behalf by Zanzibar President Ali Hussein Mwinyi at a meeting held at the new Parliament building in Mt Hampden.
The meeting is being held to assess the security situation in eastern DRC, which has caused massive internal displacement and suffering.
“We should come together as Sadc and should not hesitate to help DRC to restore peace because without doing so, peace and security in the eastern DRC won’t be sustainable.”
Sadc deployed its mission to DRC on December 15 last year and its year-long mandate will end next month.
The Extraordinary Summit is expected to decide on the fate of the mission.
More regional leaders jet in
Wallace Ruzvidzo
Botswana President, Buma Boko, Madagascar President Andry Rajoelina and South Africa’s Deputy President Paul Mashatile all arrived this morning ahead of the Extraordinary SADC Summit of Heads of State Summit that will be chaired by President Mnangagwa later today.
Eswatini Prime Minister Russel Mmiso Dhlamini, President of Zanzibar and Chairman of the Revolutionary Council of Zanzibar-Tanzania Dr Hussein Ali Mwinyi, Angolan Minister of Defence Joao Ernesto Santos and Seychelles’ Minister of Internal Affairs Charles Errol Fonseka all arrived yesterday.
The Extraordinary Summit will look at emerging regional issues including regional peace and the bloc’s industrialisation agenda.
Why Sadc is focusing on the DRC security situation: An explainer
Ranga Mataire
Zimpapers Politics Hub
The Southern African Development Community (Sadc) is meeting in Harare for the Extraordinary Heads of State Summit, which started on 17 November 2024 and ends today.
Sadc leaders are discussing how to address the security situation in the Republic of Congo (DRC) and review the Sadc Mission in the DRC (SAMIDRC).
Sadc’s mission in DRC is ending this December. The regional body’s SAMIDRC was deployed on 15 December 2023 to support the Government of the DRC to restore peace and stability caused by the resurgence of armed groups.
The deployment of the SAMIDRC was approved by the Extraordinary SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government held in Windhoek, Namibia, on 8 May 2023 as a regional response to address the unstable and deteriorating security situation prevailing in the Eastern DRC.
As part of the SAMIDRC, a regional force from Malawi, South Africa and Tanzania together with some elements of the DRC Armed Forces have been working with the Congolese Army, the Forces Armees de la Republic Democratique du Congo (FARDC), in fighting armed groups operating in the Eastern DRC.
For a longer version of this explainer, please follow this image:
DRC crisis explained
Herald Correspondent
Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is a country located in central Africa. It is the second largest country on the continent after Algeria. Its capital is Kinshasa.
DRC is rich in natural resources. It boasts vast deposits of industrial diamonds, cobalt, and copper; one of the largest forest reserves in Africa; and about half of the hydroelectric potential of the continent.
However, the effects of colonialism are still felt in the country, which has been caught in a cycle of political instability since gaining independence in 1960.
The 36-year reign of Mobutu Sese Seko ended when he was deposed during the First Congo War, which lasted a little over six months between 1996 and 1997.
Mobutu’s successor, Laurent-Désiré Kabila, was assassinated during the Second Congo War, which stretched from 1998 to 2003.
The inauguration of President Félix Tshisekedi — who took over from Kabila’s son, Joseph, in 2019 — marked the first peaceful transfer of power in nearly 60 years.
However, since the end of the Second Congo War, regional violence between rebel groups and government forces have uprooted millions of Congolese. In 2016, such clashes led to a full-scale conflict in the Kasaï province, one that displaced more than 1,4 million people.
In March 2022, violence escalated in the eastern provinces (particularly North and South Kivu). This continued in 2023, along with renewed fighting in western provinces, bringing an already-complicated humanitarian crisis to a breaking point. Despite an inter-agency scale-up in humanitarian response that June, conditions worsened in the first months of 2024.
“This is not business as usual in the DRC,” Antoine Sagot-Priez, Country Director for Concern DRC, said recently. “We need people to know what is happening here.”
Over 8 million Congolese have been displaced
In the first three months of 2024 alone, the UN estimates an additional 738 000 people were displaced across the country. More than 80 percent of these displacements are the result of armed attacks and clashes, and the overwhelming majority were displaced in North and South Kivu (both of which have faced waves of harsh violence over the last 15 years).
This latest round of forced migration represents roughly 10 percent of the total displacement figures for the country. The Democratic Republic of Congo represents Africa’s largest internal-displacement crisis (and the world’s third-largest overall), with 7 096 556 internally-displaced persons (IDPs) as of February 29, 2024.
The DRC is also one of the world’s largest refugee crises, with approximately 948 000 Congolese seeking asylum abroad (primarily in Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda, Zambia and Tanzania).
It’s worth noting that the DRC is also a major host country for refugees — particularly for the neighbouring Central African Republic, Rwanda, South Sudan and Burundi — with over 520 000 refugees recorded in the country in 2023.
These refugees find themselves in an especially difficult situation, escaping conflict in one country to find asylum in a neighbouring country that also poses risks to civilian safety. Conditions in displacement camps (both for internally-displaced Congolese and refugees/asylum seekers from neighbouring countries) are often challenging, with key concerns including overall safety, gender-based violence, climate risks, disability inclusion and adequate housing.
Even for those who haven’t been forced to leave their homes due to ongoing violence, the DRC represents one of the worst ongoing humanitarian crises. At the beginning of 2024, the UN’s Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimated that 25,4 million people in the country (roughly 20 percent of its population) require some form of humanitarian assistance. That includes 13.7 million children.
Right now, the biggest need in the country is centred on food security with 100 percent of those in need of humanitarian assistance requiring aid in this area. Health and nutrition is another key area of need, with 19.6 million people requiring some form of health assistance and 8.4 million requiring nutritional support. 10,2 million Congolese require humanitarian protection and 6,9 million require assistance related to clean water, sanitation and hygiene (Wash).
Fighting has deprived families of their livelihoods, which for the vast majority of Congolese, lie in agriculture. This means that millions of people are unable to grow the food that they use for both sustenance and their income. In some of these conflict zones, humanitarian access is also limited, meaning that it’s harder to get aid in for civilians.
While DRC consistently ranks among the world’s “poorest” countries, it also has one of the largest reserves of potential wealth, including 200 million acres of cultivable land and large reserves of gold, diamonds, copper, zinc, coltan, and cobalt.
By extension, the DRC powers our phones, producing 67 percent of the world’s coltan and over 70 percent of the world’s cobalt.
Despite mining being a lucrative industry, the hundreds of thousands of Congolese — many of whom are children — working in these mines are not seeing adequate compensation for their work. Many aren’t paid at all.
This is the legacy of colonialism in action in the DRC today, with corporations and private interests taking over for monarchies.
This continues to be a key driver of violence and instability within the country as well.
Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi has arrived at the Robert Mugabe International Airport in Harare ahead of the Extraordinary SADC Summit later today.
Scenes at Robert Mugabe International Airport in Harare as regional leaders arrive in the country ahead of the Extraordinary SADC Summit later today.
Sadc chairperson President Mnangagwa has arrived at Parliament Building in Mt Hampden for the Extraordinary Sadc Summit. President Mnangagwa will be steering conversations on the situation in DRC.
Vice President Dr Chiwenga has also arrived for the summit
The recently elected Botswana President Duma Gideon Boko has also arrived at the venue. This is President Boko’s first involvement in SADC business since his election
SADC cultivates peace in the region: Magosi
Online Reporter
In his remarks at the ongoing SADC Extraordinary Summit in Mt Hampden, Executive Secretary Mr Elias Magosi said the regional leaders are gathered to discuss matters of peace in the region.
He said the region is meeting almost a year after the bloc deployed its mission to DRC.
Mr Magosi said the armed conflict in DRC has led to loss of life, displacement and injury.
“While the region remains largely stable, there is need to discuss the deteriorating security situation in Eastern DRC.
“ We hope the summit will come up with solutions that will restore in stability and peace in DRC.”
Regional leaders convene for SADC Extraordinary Summit
Ivan Zhakata
Herald Correspondent
Leaders from across the Southern African Development Community (SADC) have convened at the new Parliament Building in Mt Hampden for the SADC Extraordinary Summit of Heads of State and
Government to discuss the security situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
SADC chairman President Mnangagwa is headlining the summit, which aims to highlight the bloc’s commitment to addressing regional challenges.
Among the attendees is Botswana’s newly elected President Duma Gideon Boko, participating in his first SADC engagement since assuming office.
Madagascar’s President Andry Rajoelina is also here while South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa is being represented by his deputy Paul Mashatile.
Zanzibar’s President Hussein Mwinyi is representing Tanzania President Samia Suluhu Hassan.
The event commenced with a group photo of the Heads of State and Government, followed by the singing of Zimbabwe’s national anthem by a choir as the leaders settled inside the venue.
The gathering underscores SADC’s unified commitment to fostering peace and stability in the region.
As the leaders engage in crucial discussions, the focus remains on crafting collective solutions to the pressing issues facing the DRC and the broader southern African region.
President Mnangagwa calls for regional unity at SADC Summit
Ivan Zhakata
Herald Correspondent
SADC chairman President Mnangagwa has reaffirmed Zimbabwe’s commitment to regional partnerships, urging Southern African Development Community (SADC) member states to unite in addressing challenges to peace and development.
Speaking at the SADC Extraordinary Summit at the New Parliament Building in Mount Hampden, Harare, the President underscored the importance of collective action in fostering regional prosperity.
He began the proceedings by inviting attendees to observe a moment of silence in honor of those who fought for the liberation of various countries in the region.
The President called on SADC leaders to remain steadfast in addressing obstacles to peace, particularly in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
“The old mantra that an injury to one SADC member state is an injury to us all remains relevant,” he said.
He emphasised the need for solidarity saying: “As a region, we must work together to ensure that the people of the DRC enjoy peace and tranquility.
“On its part, Zimbabwe reaffirms its readiness to partner with other regional countries to ensure prosperity in the region.”
The summit brought together regional leaders to address pressing issues and reaffirm their shared commitment to peace, stability and development in Southern Africa.
Sadc condemns Mozambique’s post-election violence
Farirai Machivenyika
Sadc has condemned the post-election violence that gripped Mozambique following its October 9 elections which were won by the country’s ruling party, Frelimo.
The bloc’s executive secretary, Mr Elias Magosi said this while giving his opening remarks at the Sadc Extraordinary Summit that is being held at the New Parliament Building in Mt Hampden.
“The summit will also receive an update on the post-election political and security situation in the Republic of Mozambique following the violence that erupted immediately after the elections,” he said.
“We did not expect that election processes could deteriorate to the extent of serious conflict, disruption of economic activity, threat to human lives, and even loss of lives, as well as damage to property and infrastructure.
“There are appropriate structures under the electoral laws and constitution of Member States that deal with complaints and any misgivings about elections. We plead with all those that are aggrieved with the election process to follow these lawful procedures and ensure the safety of citizens and the stability of the country.”
The violence, which is led by Mozambique’s opposition parties, has left over 45 people dead.
Sadc pledges unity and action for lasting peace in eastern DRC
Ivan Zhakata
Herald Correspondent
Sadc chairperson President Mnangagwa has reaffirmed the bloc’s unwavering commitment to fostering peace and stability in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Addressing the Sadc Extraordinary Summit this evening, President Mnangagwa stressed the importance of unity and timely action in addressing the region’s challenges.
“The invaluable insights shared and our collective resolve to realise peace remains a guarantor of our aspirations for a region characterised by humility,” he said.
President Mnangagwa commended the work of the Sadc Secretariat and praised Member States for their dedication to regional stability.
“I call upon us to keep the momentum and unity of purpose which we have always exhibited in this region.”
The summit noted the findings of the assessment mission in the DRC, underscoring the need for timely mobilisation of resources to support peace initiatives.
“The assessment made by the summit reveals the need for timeous availing of resources,” said President Mnangagwa.
He said while significant progress has been made, more work still need to be done to achieve the region’s goals.
“The summit has committed to playing its part and making contributions,” he affirmed.
In closing the summit, the Sadc chairperson extended his gratitude to the Heads of State and Government, their representatives, and the Secretariat for attending the Extraordinary Summit.
With a renewed commitment to peace, Sadc aims to solidify its role as a pillar of stability and unity in the region.
Magosi emphasises Sadc’s commitment to peace and democracy
Ivan Zhakata
Herald Correspondent
Mr Elias Magosi, the Executive Secretary of Sadc, has congratulated Member States that held elections recently, as well as newly elected Botswana President Duma Boko during the closing ceremony of the bloc’s Extraordinary Summit held at the New Parliament Building in Mount Hampden this evening.
“We commend the democratic progress demonstrated by Member States in their recent elections,” said Mr Magosi said while reaffirming Sadc’s support for free and fair electoral processes across the region.
Addressing the ongoing situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Mr Magosi said the summit is concerned over continued instability.
“Summit condemns the violations of the ceasefire agreement established last August and calls for immediate adherence to peace agreements,” he said.
“We acknowledge and appreciate President Tshisekedi’s gratitude for Sadc’s continued support in addressing these challenges.”
The summit also extended condolences to Mozambique following the loss of lives due to post-election violence.
“The summit expresses its heartfelt sympathy to Mozambique and its people. We stand united as a region in the face of such tragedies,” said Mr Magosi.
He also expressed gratitude to Sadc chairperson, President Mnangagwa, for hosting the Summit.
“We thank President Mnangagwa for his leadership and for hosting this significant gathering in such a remarkable setting,” he said.
The summit also emphasised Sadc’s unwavering commitment to peace, solidarity and democracy across the region.
