Story by Oleen Ndori, Foreign Desk Editor
THE Extraordinary Summit of SADC Heads of State and Government has acknowledged the decision by Madagascar to relinquish her role as Chair of the regional bloc, after recent political developments that impacted her capacity to discharge the responsibilities of the position.
The regional leaders convened an extraordinary summit this Friday to deliberate recent events within the SADC bloc. President Emmerson Mnangagwa was leading the Zimbabwean delegation to the virtual indaba.
Interim SADC Chairperson and President of South Africa Cyril Ramaphosa rallied the region to act with both urgency and foresight to stabilise the present while safeguarding the future.
“From its inception, SADC has stood as a beacon of solidarity, but also a
community founded on the values of unity, peace, mutual benefit and sovereign equality. As these very values are being tested by the convergence of challenges, we are called upon to act with both urgency and foresight to stabilise the present while safeguarding the future. For the future of this organisation lies in our ability to earnestly deploy our institutional strength to find sustainable solutions to the challenges that we face,” he said.
“Indeed, the challenges confronting our region are profound, but they are also not terminal. Our collective sense of regional solidarity at this time is in many ways our strongest currency. Solidarity at this moment demands courage to act decisively in defence of age-long regional gains. 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 by 2050,” added President Ramaphosa.
SADC Executive Secretary, His Excellency Elias Magosi, maintained that the change in leadership does not negate the theme adopted during the 2025 Summit of Heads of State in Madagascar.
“This summit is therefore convened to elect the SADC chair for the remainder of the Madagascar which is due to end in August 2026. This process will ensure that the SADC Troika leadership is complete in line with our founding treaty, the SADC Treaty, and that our organisation continues to function seamlessly while also ensuring uninterrupted progress towards deepening regional integration, economic development and peace and security,” he said.
He further noted that the change in leadership does not entail a shift in the block’s focus.
“Your Majesty, Your Excellencies, I must hasten to highlight that the change of the SADC leadership does not entail a shift in our regional focus away from the 45th SADC Summit theme proposed in August 2025 in Antananarivo, titled, and I quote, ‘Promoting Industrialisation, Agricultural Transformation and Energy Transition for a Resilient SADC.’ Rather, the region should remain persistent with this theme, which reaffirms our collective commitment to fostering industrial growth, agricultural modernisation and adjust energy transition as pillars of a resilient and integrated SADC region,” he noted.
Briefing journalists after the virtual summit, President Mnangagwa expressed satisfaction in the regional call for unity in finding solutions.
“It was a SADC meeting of four SADC Heads of State on our collective thrust to solidify challenges facing our region and I’m happy that we are all in agreement in how we are tackling the challenges that face our region,” he said.
According to the communique released by the SADC Secretariat; the Summit agreed that SADC will continue implementing the theme adopted at 45thSADC Summit in August 2025 in Antananarivo, Republic of Madagascar,titled“Advancing Industrialisation,Agricultural Transformation, and Energy Transition
for a Resilient SADC” until August 2026.
The summit further revealed that Zimbabwe will host selected meetings of SADC during the interim period, in its capacity as the Outgoing Chairperson of SADC.
