Johnathan Paoli
President Cyril Ramaphosa and his delegation have emphasised peaceful stability and economic development at the Southern African Development Community (SADC) summit, despite tensions surrounding the legitimacy of the hosting Zimbabwean government.
President Ramaphosa attended the 44th Ordinary Summit of the SADC Heads of State and Government in Harare, Zimbabwe over the weekend, under the theme: “Promoting innovation to unlock opportunities for sustained economic growth and development towards an industrialised SADC”.
Presidential spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said the summit provided an opportunity for SADC leaders to assess and review progress made in terms of the region’s flagship integration agenda, the Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP) 2020 – 2030, in order to promote peace and security, good governance, socio-economic development and integration in the region.
Ramaphosa participated in discussions on the agenda of the summit, including the status of member state contributions, regional food and nutrition security, the status of health in the region, implementation of the SADC industrialization strategy and roadmap as well as considering candidatures to continental and international organisations.
The President signed both the SADC Declaration on Accelerating Action to end AIDS as a Public Health threat in the Region by 203 and the agreement amending the SADC Protocol on Gender and Development.
Ramaphosa was supported by International Relations Minister Ronald Lamola and Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana.
The summit was preceded by the SADC Council of Ministers Meeting and the SADC Organ Troika summit last week, in which Lamola commended the community for taking steps towards regional stability and economic integration.
The summit proved conspicuous however, by the marked absence of the Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema following simmering tensions between his country and neighbouring Zimbabwe.
As the outgoing SADC chair on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation, Hichilema delivered his final report virtually on Friday.
The tension follows Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa’a anger at a SADC observer mission, led by Hichilema’s second, vice president Nevers Mumba, which reported that the Zimbabwean elections of last August did not meet regional standards.
Despite the scathing report, however, Hichilema did not mention the Zimbabwean elections in his final report, but said that elections in the region, while difficult, were not violent.
“We are very pleased that the elections that happened during our time, or the year that has passed, were reasonably peaceful and delivered leadership that now can be crowned as a bloc that we have maintained or managed to have a peaceful transition of leadership from one team to another during the last year,” he said.
This comes on the heels of increasing the Zimbabwean government’s crackdowns on activists and opposition party members, who have been accused of attempting to disrupt the summit.
Amnesty International has confirmed that around 160 people have been arrested since June this year, with allegations of police brutality during arrests, and psychological torture in detention.
Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition (CiZC) chairperson Peter Mutasa said the government’ actions proved the undemocratic nature of their rise to power.
“The government is paranoid. It’s afraid of its own people. If it’s a government that was elected by the people, that is confident of its legitimacy, we wouldn’t be experiencing what we are witnessing now,” Mutasa said.
78 people, including Jameson Timba, leader of the opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC), were arrested without bail on 16 June at a political gathering that authorities said was “unauthorised”, while another set of protesters who subsequently demanded the release of the detained CCC members outside a court in Harare were also bundled away by security forces.
Zimbabwean Home Affairs Minister Kazembe Kazembe released a statement earlier in the month and said agitators were attempting to inflict reputational damage on the country.
Kazembe said that adequate measures have been put in place to account for and rein in anybody seeking to disturb the peace for any reason.
In the lead-up to the election last year, authorities passed the Patriotic bill, criminalising “willfully damaging the sovereignty and national interest of Zimbabwe, with sentences ranging up to 20 years in prison.
There have been mounting calls of condemnation by human rights organisations, with many criticising South Africa’ silence on the matter.
Many Zimbabweans have expressed dismay at the South African government’s support for the Palestinian people against Israel, but their silence concerning the suppression of the people of Zimbabwe.
The DA, although being a part of the South African government, previously called for the relocation of the summit away from Harare, and Mnangagwa stripped of his chairmanship.
Party Spokesperson on International Relations and Cooperation, Emma Powell said the Zimbabwean chairing of the SADC, was a testament to the continued failure of regional leaders to hold political thugs to account.
“Allowing the summit to proceed under the current circumstances will not only endorse ZANU-PF’s flagrant abuse of international law but further undermine the principles upon which the SADC was established,” Powell said.
Nevertheless, Powell called on Minister Lamola to lead the charge in pushing for crucial reforms within the SADC, including the re-establishment of the Tribunal, enhancing its independence, strengthening its jurisdiction and ensuring compliance with its decisions.
She said that given the democratic backslide occurring in many parts of the region, it is now urgent that the SADC explore alternative decision-making mechanisms, such as implementing a weighted voting system that assigns greater influence to larger and more populous member states.
“Until political leaders are willing to speak out against the suppression of democratic freedoms, and advance regional mechanisms to uphold the rule of law, the SADC will remain nothing but a talk shop, and with it the dream of a democratic, prosperous and economically competitive continent will remain elusive,” Powell said.
EFF leader Julius Malema, speaking at a Rhodes University public lecture earlier in the month, acknowledged that while the SADC, South Africa, and the African Union have not been effective in helping Zimbabwe, it is up to the country’s youth to rise up and fight for their freedom.
Malema said that his party did not agree with the sanctions against the country, which adversely only affected the poor, and called on Zimbabwean citizens to rebel against their oppression.
“This thing of being scared of old men who can’t even walk, instead of engaging in a rebellion against those people must end,” he said.
Zimbabwean president Mnangagwa assumed leadership of the SADC, as the country hosted the summit for the first time in a decade, taking up the reins from the Angolan president Joao Lourenco.
The position, which is held for one year, rotates amongst the 16-member states and was first occupied by former Botswana President Joni Masire back in 1980.
The next SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government is expected to be held in the Republic of Madagascar in 2025.
INSIDE POLITICS
