Politics Reporter
South Africa is hosting Southern African leaders in Durban on Sunday ahead of a regional summit expected to focus on industrialisation, infrastructure, food security and transforming the region’s critical mineral wealth into greater economic growth.
President Cyril Ramaphosa will host heads of state and government at a welcome dinner on Sunday evening before chairing the 46th Ordinary Summit of the Southern African Development Community at the Inkosi Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre on Monday.
The gathering will usher in South Africa’s 12-month tenure as chair of the 16-member regional bloc, nine years after it last held the position.
Before the main summit, leaders are due to participate on Sunday in a meeting of the SADC Organ Troika on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation. Ramaphosa and other regional leaders are also scheduled to lay wreaths at the statue of anti-apartheid leader Oliver Tambo at Durban’s South Beach.
Monday’s summit will be held under the theme “Resilient, sustainable and inclusive industrialisation through Infrastructure Development, Agricultural and Critical Minerals Transformation in Pursuit of a Just World.”
SADC said leaders would consider regional economic and political conditions, progress towards its Vision 2050 development goals, food and nutrition security, disaster preparedness, the proposed SADC Regional Development Fund and the impact of global geopolitical developments on Southern Africa.
Migration is also expected to feature in the discussions, with South Africa seeking greater regional cooperation on managing the movement of people and irregular migration.
In an address at the University of KwaZulu-Natal on Friday, Ramaphosa condemned recent discrimination and “ill-treatment” of foreign nationals in South Africa, saying the region should work towards a system in which people can move freely in accordance with established laws and protocols.
“We cannot preach integration at summits and practise exclusion in our streets,” Ramaphosa said.
He said SADC countries also needed to tackle conflict, instability, poor governance, poverty and other conditions driving migration, with the aim of creating a region “where people move out of choice, not out of desperation”.
The summit is SADC’s highest policy-making body and sets the strategic direction for regional cooperation, integration and development.
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