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SADC TODAY VOL 21 NO. 5 AUGUST 2019

Southern Africa Today

POLICY 3

FOOD SECURITY 4-5

DISASTERS 6

INFRASTRUCTURE 7

INTEGRATION 8-9

GENDER 10

PARLIAMENT 11

BIODIVERSITY 12

PEACE AND SECURITY 13

KNOWLEDGE 14

EVENTS 15

HISTORY TODAY 16

Taking stock of industrialization agenda One of the major highlights will be a progress re-port on the implementation of the SADC Indus-trialization Strategy and Roadmap 2015-2063,which was adopted in 2015 to unlock the indus-trial potential of the region.

Industrialization is a top priority for southernAfrica, and since 2014 all SADC summits have fo-cused on how the region can attain industrial de-velopment.

In this regard, the 39th SADC Summit will re-ceive a progress report on how Member States areimplementing various measures to accelerate eco-nomic growth through industrial development.

As per the theme of the 39th SADC Summit,Member States will between August 2019 andAugust 2020 focus on creating a conducive envi-ronment to allow the private sector and other cit-izens of the region to actively participate in andfully benefit from measures aimed at advancingthe industrialization agenda.

In a bid to enhance the level of industrial de-velopment, both nationally and regionally, andin pursuit of ensuring the attainment of unifiedgoals and cohesion among Member States’ in-dustrialization policies and strategies, SADC isdeveloping a Protocol on Industry, which is setto be completed by August 2019.

The protocol will be a binding instrumentthat will entrench and give legal effect tothe SADC Industrialisation Strategy andRoadmap and will ensure adequate coordina-tion, monitoring and evaluation of implemen-tation.

The proposed protocol is expected tostrengthen the level of industrial development inthe region and facilitate the harmonization ofpolicies and strategies in Member States.

Where Member States already have such poli-cies and strategies in place, these should be re-viewed and aligned to the SADCIndustrialisation Strategy and Roadmap.

continued on page 2...

LEADERS FROM southern Africa are meeting for their annual summit in August tochart the development agenda of the region. Running under the theme “A ConduciveEnvironment for Inclusive and Sustainable Industrial Development, Increased Intra-Regional Trade and Job Creation”, the summit will deliberate on a wide range of issues,including reviewing progress made towards achieving the longstanding vision of aunited, prosperous and integrated region. This edition of Southern Africa Today looksat some of the major issues expected to be discussed by the 39th SADC Summitscheduled for Dar es Salaam, United Republic of Tanzania on 17-18 August.

39th SADC SummitTowards Inclusive, Sustainable IndustrialDevelopment

SADC Today 21 No.5 Anisha.qxp_Layout 1 10/8/2019 17:22

2 SOUTHERN AFRICA Today, August 2019

Food security situationSummit is expected to approvemeasures to address food insecu-rity after a poor harvest duringthe 2018/19 agricultural season.

The SADC region has a cerealdeficit of more than 5.4 milliontonnes this year following sub-dued rainfall during the just-ended season, according to aSynthesis Report on the State ofFood and Nutrition Security andVulnerability in Southern Africa.

The report indicates that anestimated 41.2 million peopleare food-insecure in 13 SADCMember States this year.

Summit is expected to ap-prove strategies for addressingthe food security, including as-sisting affected populations withfood supplies as well as provid-ing emergency livestock supple-mentary feeding to savelivestock, and importing grain tosupplement their reduced yields.

Infrastructure developmentAnother key issue for discus-sion is progress towards imple-mentation of the SADCRegional Infrastructure Devel-opment Master Plan (RIDMP).

Approved in 2012, theRIDMP is the strategy for the de-velopment of integrated regionalinfrastructure in southern Africaat an estimated cost of more thanUS$500 billion to meet projecteddemand by 2027.

Implementation of theRIDMP is being done in threephases, covering the Short TermAction Plan (STAP) 2012-2017,the Medium Term Action Planthat runs up to 2022, and theLong Term Action Plan to beimplemented up to 2027.

Preliminary findings of astudy commissioned by theSADC Secretariat show that theimplementation of most STAPprojects is behind schedule.

Post-2020 SADC agendaSADC has begun the process offormulating a new develop-ment vision to succeed the Re-vised Regional IndicativeStrategic Development Plan(RISDP) that was approved in2015 and runs until 2020.

The region has generally en-joyed stability despite somepockets of volatility in the east-ern part of the Democratic Re-public of Congo, the Kingdomof Lesotho and Madagascar.

Summit is expected to takestock of interventions under-taken by the region to promotepeace and stability in these andother Member States.

To ensure there is a stronglinkage between early warningand early action, SADC has es-tablished the Regional EarlyWarning Centre and the regionsuccessfully deployed manystrategic teams which havehad a positive impact.

Most recent was the SADCPreventive Mission in Lesotho,which was deployed inNovember 2017 to stabilize thefragile and unpredictable polit-ical and security situation inthe country, and successfullycompleted its mission inNovember 2018.

This supported the deploy-ment of the SADC OversightCommittee to the Kingdom ofLesotho and the team support-ing the SADC Facilitator to as-sist in the national dialogueand the roadmap for reforms.

Sustainable financing ofregional integrationAnother issue that remainshigh on the agenda for theSummit is the need for SADCto put in place sustainable fi-nancing models to drive for-ward its regional agenda.

It is estimated that onlyaround 10 percent of regionalprojects are funded by SADCMember States while the bal-ance comes from internationalcooperating partners. This sit-uation has compromised thesustainability of regional pro-grammes.

The Secretariat was directedby the 38th SADC Summit tofinalize the draft SADC Re-gional Resources MobilizationFramework, which determineshow fiscal space can be createdto enable Member States to fi-nance regional activities, pro-grammes and projects.

A progress report on thedraft SADC Regional Re-sources Mobilization Frame-work is, therefore, expected tobe presented to the leaders fordiscussion.

Continental Free Trade AreaSummit is expected to discusshow Member States can fullybenefit from the African Conti-nental Free Trade Area(AfCFTA) that entered intoforce in July.

AfCFTA is an enlarged mar-ket that brings together all the55 AU member states, coveringa market of more than 1.2 bil-lion people and a combinedgross domestic product (GDP)of more than US$3.4 trillion.

The AfCFTA will build onthe existence of other FTAs inthe continent such as theSADC FTA and the pending“Grand” FTA involving theCommon Market for Easternand Southern Africa(COMESA), the East AfricanCommunity and SADC.

Establishment of theAfCFTA is one of the flagshipprojects or initiatives underAgenda 2063 – The Africa WeWant, which is a continental vi-sion and strategic frameworkadopted by the AU in 2013 tooptimize the use of the conti-nent’s resources for the benefitof all Africans. r

The review process is ex-pected to lead to the develop-ment of a framework for thepost-2020 regional strategythat takes into account SADCPrinciples and Common Prin-ciples as well as global andcontinental processes such asthe African Union’s Agenda2063 and the United Nations’Sustainable DevelopmentGoals.

With one year left until the2020 SADC Summit (the 40th),the 39th Summit is expected toreview progress towards thedevelopment of the post-2020SADC Agenda.

In this regard, a progress re-port is set to be presented tothe heads of state and govern-ment for deliberation.

Gender empowermentGender equality and empow-erment are firmly rooted in theSADC Declaration and Treatythat established the sharedcommunity of SADC.

Member States fully realizethat the equality and empow-erment of both women andmen is crucial for the attain-ment of sustainable develop-ment.

Significant progress hasbeen made towards genderequality in the region, butmore needs to be done.

In this regard, the Summit isexpected to explore ways of in-tensifying its efforts to promotegender equality and ensurethat both women and menplay an active role in advanc-ing regional integration.

Strengthening peace andsecurityOn the political front, the lead-ers are expected to discuss thepeace and security situation inthe region.

C O N T I N U E D F R O M P A G E 1


Legal instrument to regulate Univisa implementation

P O L I C Y

SOUTHERN AFRICA Today 3

agreement, procedures andrequirements for issuing thevisa to travellers andtourists.

For example, someSADC Member States arguethat if the Univisa system isnot properly and legallyconstituted, its implementa-tion could pose serioussafety and security chal-lenges such as an influx of il-legal immigrants in somecountries.

Furthermore, touristscould choose to visit one ora few destinations in SADC,hence the need to come upwith a fair and equitable rev-enue sharing system amongall the SADC Member States.

Therefore, the develop-ment of a legal instrumentthat seeks to regulate thesmooth implementation of asingle tourism visa for theregion will ensure the suc-cess of the SADC TourismUnivisa.

While the region pre-pares for the SADC TourismUnivisa, a pilot systemknown as Kavango-Zambezi(KAZA) Visa, which coversvisitors from other regionsto Zambia and Zimbabwewas successfully launched inNovember 2014.

The implementation ofthe KAZA Univisa was orig-inally set to be rolled out infour different stages.

The pilot phase involvedZambia and Zimbabwe,with the next step expectedto cover three other coun-tries -- Angola, Botswanaand Namibia, who togethermake up the five membersof the KAZA Trans FrontierConservation Area.

The KAZA TFCA coversan area of about 444,000square kilometres, and con-sists of 36 national parks,game reserves, communityconservancies and gamemanagement areas.

The conservation areaboasts of numerous touristattractions such as the Victo-ria Falls between Zambiaand Zimbabwe, San rockpaintings in Botswana andthe absorbing wildlife popu-lation in the region.

This high concentrationof attractions creates an en-tirely new assortment oftourism opportunities insouthern Africa, presentingnew opportunities for socio-economic development in

SADC, resulting in deeperintegration among MemberStates.

Once all the KAZA coun-tries are part of the KAZAUnivisa, more SADC Mem-ber States (Eswatini,Mozambique and SouthAfrica) are expected to jointhe Univisa system.

Thereafter, the fourthand last stage should see allthe other remainingSADC countries – theDemocratic Republic ofCongo, Lesotho, Madagas-car, Malawi, Mauritius, Sey-chelles and the UnitedRepublic of Tanzania – join-ing the visa system, therebyadopting a Univisa in theSADC region. r

SADC HAS begun the pro-cess of developing a legal in-strument that aims toregulate the implementationof a single tourism visa forthe region.

Commonly known as theSADC Tourism Univisa, thesingle visa system will allowtourists and travellers to theregion to move smoothlyacross borders and betweenmember states, as well as en-courage tourists to visitmore than one country inSADC.

Currently, travellers toSADC are expected to applyfor a visa each time they in-tend to visit any country inthe region, a situation mosttravellers say is costly and abarrier to movement withinthe region.

In this regard, a singlevisa system for travellers tothe SADC region makes eco-nomic sense as it saves time,money, bureaucratic hasslesand makes travel easier.

To ensure the successand smooth implementa-tion of the SADC TourismUnivisa, the Secretariat iscrafting a legal instrumentto regulate the implementa-tion of the Univisa and en-sure that all securityvulnerabilities and threatsare addressed in prepara-tion for the launch of theUnivisa.

In fact, one of the majorchallenges that has delayedthe launch of the SADCTourism Univisa is the secu-rity vulnerabilities andthreats posed by such a sin-gle visa system includingadministrative and coordi-nation issues such as policy

AS PART of its efforts to revamp the tourism sector in theregion, SADC has approved plans to disband the RegionalTourism Organization of Southern Africa. This is in line with the provisions in the Charterestablishing RETOSA, and the SADC Council has sincedirected the Secretariat to develop a feasible mechanism thatwill ensure that the objectives of regional tourism programmeare fulfilled and submit a report to Council at its meeting inAugust ahead of the 39th SADC Heads of State andGovernment Summit scheduled for Dar es Salaam, UnitedRepublic of Tanzania. Following the disbanding of RETOSA and its Board, theCommittee of SADC Senior Officials responsible for Tourismwas tasked to exercise the powers of the RETOSA Board toensure that it is able to wind up all the activities, programmesand projects of RETOSA. Established in 1997 as a SADC subsidiary, RETOSA wastasked with a mandate to encourage and assist in thedevelopment of tourism in the region and market southernAfrica as a single, multi-faceted tourist destination. However, most of the targets were not met due tovarious challenges including lack of capacity and limited re-sources. r

SADC to disband RETOSA


F O O D S E C U R I T Y


Zambia, which during thepast few years has signifi-cantly contributed to regionalcereal output, suffered a 14.7percent decline in productionfrom 2.6 million tonnes in2017/18 to 2.2 million tonnesin 2018/19. The largest drop in outputwas, however, in Botswanawhere cereal production is es-timated to have declined by92 percent during the2018/19 season, whileNamibia and Lesotho experi-enced 53 percent and 50 per-cent decreases, respectively. The least affected coun-tries were Angola and Tanza-nia, which recordeddecreases of 1 percent and 4percent, respectively. Maize accounts for 80 per-cent of cereal production insouthern Africa. Other im-portant cereals are wheat,sorghum, millets and rice. According to the regionalfood security assessment re-port, the decline in cereal pro-duction indicates that “anestimated 41.2 million peoplein 13 SADC Member Statesare food-insecure this year.” The 13 countries are An-gola, Botswana, DRC, Eswa-tini, Lesotho, Madagascar,Malawi, Mozambique,Namibia, South Africa, Tan-zania, Zambia and Zim-babwe. The remaining threeSADC Member States – Mau-ritius, the Union of Comorosand Seychelles – did not pro-vide figures on their food se-curity and vulnerabilityassessments, meaning that

hemisphere, hit parts ofMalawi, Mozambique andZimbabwe in March 2019,and was accompanied byheavy rain, wind and stormsthat destroyed a large hec-tarage of crop in the threecountries. Other contributing factorsthat worsened the low har-vest in most SADC MemberStates include the Fall Army-worm infestation. In this re-gard, the affected countriesare actively monitoring andresponding to the pest out-break as well as to livestockand crops diseases. The Synthesis Report onthe State of Food and Nutri-tion Security and Vulnerabil-ity urges SADC MemberStates to move towards cropand dietary diversity in themedium to long term,through the growing andconsumption of diversifieddiets, including indigenousfoods. This includes species di-versification in livestock pro-duction, especially smallruminants that are adapted toharsh weather conditions. There is also need to im-prove irrigation as well asrainwater harvesting to allowthe region to farm all yearround and not depend onlyon climatic conditions. The potential for irrigat-ing land in the SADC regionis vast as the region is hugelyendowed with watercoursessuch as the Congo, Zambeziand Limpopo rivers. However, the SADC re-gion should improve its

the number of food-insecurepeople in the region could behigher. The SADC region has apopulation of more than 327million. “When comparing the 11Member States that provideddata last year and this year,food insecurity increased by28 percent,” reads part of thesynthesis report, adding thatthe figure is “7.4 percenthigher than it was during thesevere El Niño-induceddrought of 2016/17.” To address the situation,SADC Member States areputting in place measures tosupport food security, suchas assisting affected popula-tions with food supplies andproviding emergency sup-plementary feeding for live-stock. “Namibia is respondingto the drought by distribut-ing food relief and agricul-tural inputs, as well as theprovision of water to the af-fected population,” Namib-ian Deputy Director forPolicy, Disaster Risk Man-agement Directorate, Anasta-sia Amunyela, said at theSADC RVAA meeting. Malawi, Mozambiqueand Zimbabwe are import-ing grain to supplement theirreduced yields. The plight of the threecountries was worsened bythe impact of Cyclone Idaithat hit the region in March. Cyclone Idai, which has beenrecorded as one of the worsttropical storms to affectAfrica and the southern

by Kizito Sikuka

A REGIONAL food securityassessment indicates thatsouthern Africa has a cerealdeficit of more than 5.4 mil-lion tonnes this year follow-ing a subdued 2018/19farming season. Based on the 11 SADCMember States that providedcereal balance sheets for the2018/19 harvest year, the as-sessment says the region pro-duced about 37.5 milliontonnes of cereals comparedto 42.9 million tonnes in2017/18. This is according to a“Synthesis Report on theState of Food and NutritionSecurity and Vulnerability inSouthern Africa” approvedby the programme steeringcommittee of the SADC Re-gional Vulnerability Assess-ment and Analysis (RVAA)that met on 5 July in Wind-hoek, Namibia. The countries that pro-vided cereal balance sheets forthe 2018/19 season are An-gola, Botswana, the Demo-cratic Republic of Congo,Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi,Namibia, South Africa, theUnited Republic of Tanzania,Zambia and Zimbabwe. The report revealed thatcereal production in SouthAfrica, which usually ac-counts for the largest propor-tion of regional output,decreased by 19 percent from18.7 million tonnes during2017/18 season to 15.1 mil-lion tonnes during the seasonjust ended.

Subdued SADC food security situation in 2018/19 season



F O O D S E C U R I T Y


transportation network sothat agricultural produce canmove smoothly from oneplace to another. It is also necessary to in-vest in storage facilities toallow farmers to store theirharvest for use in poor sea-sons. According to the UnitedNations Food and Agricul-ture Organization, post-har-vest crop losses in SADC areestimated to be as high as 40percent. The “Synthesis Report onthe State of Food and Nutri-tion Security and Vulnerabil-ity in Southern Africa” isexpected to presented to theSADC Council of Ministersand ultimately to the 39thSummit of SADC Heads ofState and Governmentscheduled for 17-18 Augustin Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The agricultural sector isregarded as an engine forsocio-economic developmentin most SADC MemberStates, hence the drive to-wards deeper cooperationand collaboration to boostproduction and address foodinsecurity. The synthesis reportwhich consolidated the re-sults of the vulnerability as-sessments of Member States,was presented at the annualdissemination meeting of theRVAA Programme held inWindhoek, Namibia, in July. The objective of theSADC RVAA programmemeeting was to discuss andconsolidate the results of the2019 vulnerability assess-ments and analyses done byMember States.

The SADC RVAA Pro-gramme was established in2005 to strengthen the capacityof Member States to undertakeand utilize vulnerability as-sessments to inform policy for-mulation and emergencyinterventions that can lead to areduction in vulnerability inthe region. The first phase of theSADC RVAA Programme,which ran from 2005-2011,sought to inform broader ap-proaches to tackling food inse-curity, including safety netsand social protection. The second phase coveredthe period 2012-2016 and fo-cused on expanding the scope

of the programme to includeurban areas and chronicpoverty issues such as gender,HIV and AIDS, and climatechange, as well as influencingpolicies and programmes. The current phase of theSADC RVAA Programme,which spans the period 2017-2021, seeks to consolidategains from the previousphases, while at the same timebroadening the programme tocover chronic vulnerability,contributing to climate re-silient livelihoods and ad-dressing the challenges ofinstitutionalization and capac-ity development of nationalcommittees.

Since its establishment, theSADC RVAA Programme hasmade significant progress inproviding timely and credibleinformation that has influ-enced policy, and its productsare now a vital reference pointfor decision-makers in ad-dressing food and nutrition se-curity issues. One of the major goals ofthe SADC RVAA Programmeis the timely provision of cred-ible vulnerability information,while building capacities tomeet the ever-increasing infor-mation needs of governmentsand partners for developmen-tal programming and emer-gency response. sardc.net

Cereal Balance Sheet and Production

2019/20 Marketing Year Cereal ProductionCereal Balance Sheet

Required Available Deficit 2018 2019 / surplus ‘000 tonnes ‘000 tonnes ‘000 ‘000 ‘000 % change from tonnes tonnes tonnes 2018 to 2019 Angola 4,879 3,748 1,132 3,609 3,570 1.07Botswana 300 37.756 262 66 5.4 91.83DR Congo 3,200 Eswatini 167.88 96.77 71 112 95.3 14.99Lesotho 375.07 87.83 287 75 37.5 50.27Madagascar Malawi 3,027 2,700 10.81Mozambique 3,174 Namibia 351.2 200.5 151 153 71.5 53.24South Africa 15,524 19,607 4,083 18,701 15,137 19.06Tanzania 8,754 9,007 253 9,386 9,008 4.03Zambia 5,225 4,337 888 2,598 2,217 14.66Zimbabwe 2,204 1,443 761 1,994 1,443 27.64SADC 37,780 38,565 784 42,895 37,485



operationalize the SADCDisaster Preparedness andResponse Mechanism areongoing,” Dr Tax said dur-ing the 21st Meeting of theMinisterial Committee of theOrgan (MCO) on Politics,Defence and Security Coop-eration held in Lusaka, Zam-bia on 19 July. She said proposed mea-sures “include the opera-tionalization of the SADCDisaster Preparedness andResponse Fund, which goeshand-in-hand with a re-source mobilization strategyand sustainability plan.” The proposed SADCDisaster Preparedness andResponse Fund is expectedto create a pool of resourcesfrom which the region canrapidly mobilise funds inthe event that the MemberStates experience a naturaldisaster or emergency situ-ation. The regional fund is in-tended to complement thebudgets of Member State fordisaster preparedness andresponse as national govern-ments remain the first-lineresponders to local emer-gency situations. The fund is expected tobe functional by the end of2019; the modalities of howit will work are still beingdeveloped. Taking adequate mea-sures to prevent, reduce andrespond to the impact of dis-asters has become a criticalissue for southern Africa fol-lowing an increase in thenumber of natural hazardsaffecting the region. Natural hazards such asdroughts, floods, cyclonesand occasional earthquakesoccur in southern Africa andthe impacts continue to

losses from disasters throughthe operationalization of aRegional Disaster Risk Infor-mation Management Sys-tem. Other measures includethe development of StandardOperating Procedures for re-lief and recovery operations;the creation of a RegionalEmergency Roster underwhich Member States willcontribute human resourcesto the regional humanitarianefforts; and the mapping ofdisaster-prone areas andavailable resources. “These tools will becomplimented with the acti-vation of SADC Contin-gency Operations Plan forearly warning under theSADC Standby Force,” DrTax said. The Secretariat is map-ping the entire disaster man-agement value chain, with aview to putting in place acomprehensive and well-co-ordinated response mecha-nism, she added. r

threaten livelihoods andsocio-economic development. To address increasingvulnerability, the region hasapproved the SADC DisasterPreparedness and ResponseStrategy 2016-2030. The strategy wasadopted by ministers re-sponsible for Disaster RiskManagement in November2016 and aims to strengthenthe preparedness and re-sponse mechanism for earlywarning as well as recoveryfrom disasters in the regionby 2030. To strengthen disasterpreparedness and responseplanning, Dr Tax revealedthat there are plans to estab-lish the SADC Humanitarianand Emergency OperationsCentre (SHOC). SHOC is expected to co-ordinate regional prepared-ness and responses todisasters. Furthermore, SADC plans todevelop and operationalize aregional database to record

by Kumbirai Nhongo

SADC IS fast-tracking theestablishment of a regionalmechanism to strengthendisaster response and pre-paredness in the aftermathof two tropical cyclones thatleft trails of destruction andaffected livelihoods in partsof the region. Cyclone Idai hit centraland southern Mozambique,southern Malawi and east-ern Zimbabwe in March,causing severe flooding anddestroying infrastructureand large tracts of crop landin the three Member States. An estimated three mil-lion people in the threeMember States were affectedby Cyclone Idai, which hasbeen recorded as one of theworst tropical storms to everaffect Africa and the south-ern hemisphere. The cyclone claimed hun-dreds of lives and left a trailof destruction in the threecountries, including key in-frastructure such as roads,bridges, schools and clinics.Before the region could re-cover from the impact of thetropical storm, northernMozambique and the Co-moros were hit by CycloneKenneth, which also left atrail of destruction. According to SADC Ex-ecutive Secretary, Dr Ster-gomena Lawrence Tax, theeffects of Cyclones Idai andKenneth “point to an urgentneed to strengthen our pre-paredness and respond in acoordinated and timelymanner.” “In this regard, the regionhas taken the lessons learntfrom the devastating im-pacts of these cyclones seri-ously and measures to

D I S A S T E R S

THERE HAS been an overwhelming response to the Re-gional Humanitarian Appeal launched by SADC in April,with more than US$204 million raised by mid-July.

SADC launched an international appeal for US$323 mil-lion to support victims to cope with the impact of CycloneIdai that affected parts of Malawi, Mozambique and Zim-babwe in March. SADC Executive Secretary, Dr Stergomena Lawrence Taxsaid through the regional appeal, “combined with NationalHumanitarian Appeals, an amount of USD204 million hasbeen raised for the affected countries.”“Let me thank SADC governments and citizens in Diasporaas well as national, regional and international organizationsand partners that provided, and continue to provide, sup-port to the affected Member States and communities,” DrTax said during the 21st Meeting of the Ministerial Commit-tee of the Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooper-ation held in Lusaka, Zambia on 19 July r

Overwhelming response for cyclone victims

Strengthening disaster preparedness, response



I N F R A S T R U C T U R E

THE SADC Regional Infrastructure Development MasterPlan (RIDMP) is the agreed regional strategy for the devel-opment of integrated regional infrastructure in southernAfrica, at an estimated cost of US$500 billion to meet pro-jected demand to 2027.

The historic decision to approve the RIDMP in 2012 atthe SADC Summit held in Maputo, Mozambique, was in-formed by the perspective that infrastructure developmentand maintenance is an enabler for accelerated regional in-tegration, economic development, industrialization andtrade.

Under this ambitious plan, SADC aims to develop cross-border infrastructure in the six priority areas of energy,transport, tourism, water, information communication tech-nology and meteorology. r

SADC, AfDB partner to strengthen capacity for infrastructure development


by Kizito Sikuka

SADC HAS made significant progress towards achievingits vision of a united, prosperous and integrated region.

This was said by SADC Chairperson, President HageGeingob of Namibia while presenting a report on the statusof regional integration in SADC to the inaugural AfricanUnion (AU)-Regional Economic Communities (RECs) Co-ordination Meeting held on 7-8 July in Niamey, Niger.

“Our review of the status of integration in SADC revealsthat implementation has progressed well, notwithstandingsome challenges,” President Geingob said.

He said some of the major milestones recorded by SADCinclude the launch of a Free Trade Area (FTA) in August2008.

The SADC FTA, which covers 12 Member States, hasled to an increase in intra-regional trade in SADC to above22 percent of the collective Gross Domestic Product, com-pared to the pre-FTA era high of around 16 percent.

Furthermore, the launch of the SADC FTA has allowedconsumers in the region to get better products at lowerprices due to increased production, while producers arebenefiting from tariff-free trade for all goods originatingwithin the region.

The main aim of the SADC FTA is to promote thesmooth movement of goods and services across borders,as well as to encourage Member States to harmonize tradepolicies to promote equal competition and increased trade.

Another achievement for SADC is the establishment ofa regional payment system to settle cross-border transac-tions faster without having to rely on intermediary banksfrom outside the region.

Commonly known as the SADC Real Time Gross Set-tlement System, the system was established in July 2013and piloted in four countries – Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibiaand South Africa.

The system is now operational in 14 SADC MemberStates and only Madagascar and the Union of Comorosare not participating.

“The SADC cross-border Real Time Gross SettlementSystem has improved efficiency and reduced transactioncosts,” President Geingob said.

He said the system has “performed impressively with81 banks participating, and over 1.2 million transactionssettled by end of 2018, representing ZAR5.21 trillion(about US$373.5 billion) worth of SADC’s intra-regionaltrade.”

On the energy front, the establishment of the SouthernAfrican Power Pool (SAPP) has provided a platform forpower utilities within the region to share electricity acrossborders, thereby allowing countries to manage their en-ergy surpluses and deficits.

All mainland SADC Member States, with the exceptionof Angola, Malawi and Tanzania, are interconnected to theregional grid through SAPP, allowing them to trade elec-tricity.

The island states of Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritiusand Seychelles are not yet members of SAPP.

The region has witnessed significant investment in re-newable and non-renewable energy sources, a developmentthat has seen a number of power generation and transmis-sion projects being implemented during the past decade.

Such investment has led to increased generation capacityin the region, which has faced power deficits since 2007.

With regard to peace and security, the region has re-mained largely stable and continues to put in place meas-ures to promote and strengthen its stability.

For example, as part of the Good Governance andDemocracy Tenets, SADC Member States have been en-couraged to adhere to the Revised SADC Principles andGuidelines Governing Democratic Elections, which pro-vide a normative peer review framework to measure ad-herence to standardized universal best practices in relationto the conduct of elections and, ultimately, the preventionof election-related conflicts.

In this regard, since the adoption of the SADC Princi-ples and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections,

the region has successfully deployed the SADC Elec-toral Observation Missions (SEOMs) to observe

elections in Member States.

SADC regional integration agenda on course… but m


I N T E G R A T I O N


In 2018 and 2019 alone, SEOMs have so far been de-ployed to the Democratic Republic of Congo, the King-dom of Eswatini, Madagascar, Malawi, South Africa andZimbabwe.

The deployment of the SEOMs, supported by theSADC Electoral Advisory Council, has, by and large, con-tributed to the enhanced credibility of electoral processesin Member States and towards deepening democracy inthe region.

President Geingob, who will hand over the SADC chairto his counterpart, President John Pombe Joseph Magufuliof the United Republic of Tanzania at the 39th SADC Sum-mit set for 17-18 August in Dar es Salaam, said the SADCStandby Force has strengthened capacity for collective de-fence and rapid response to security threats in the regionand in Africa.

Established in 2007, the SADC Standby Force success-fully assumed Africa Standby Force (ASF) roster dutiesfrom 1 January 2019 to 30 June 2019.

The assumption of the ASF standby roster duties en-tailed that the SADC Standby Force had the primary re-sponsibility of being the first responder to conflictsituations on the continent by providing a rapid deploy-ment capability.

The ASF is an important tool of the African peace andsecurity architecture for the prevention, management andresolution of conflicts in the continent.

The ASF became fully operational in 2016 and is basedon standby arrangements among Africa’s five sub-regions– North Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, West Africa andSouthern Africa. The regions agreed to lead the ASF on asix-monthly rotational basis.

On mainstreaming of gender in peace and security,SADC has developed a regional framework that will serveas a guide on mainstreaming gender into the regionalpeace and security systems and processes.

President Geingob said despite these achievements,various challenges continue to hinder the ability of SADCto make the benefits of belonging to a shared communityin southern Africa enjoyable by all its citizens.

“Some plans and commitments are either unrealistic orare not fully owned by Member States. This negatively af-fects implementation of the plans and the ultimate reali-sation of the set milestones. We, therefore, need to ensurethat the plans are realistic, and all Member States are fullyconsulted and subscribe to them,” he said.

Another challenge is the multiple and overlappingmembership of various RECs by SADC Member States.

A number of SADC Member States belong to more thanone REC, a situation that has led to conflicts of loyalty and

more needs to be done

confusion of commitment, thereby hindering progress ofintegration in Africa.

However, the issue of overlapping membership isbeing addressed by the operationalisation of theCOMESA-EAC-SADC Free Trade Area, and the establish-ment of the African Continental Free Trade Area whoseoperational phase was officially launched on 7 July.

Another obstacle to stronger regional integration is lim-ited participation in regional programmes by non-state ac-tors, including the private sector, civil society and themedia.

“We need to effectively bring on board the private sec-tor as a critical partner to regional integration,” Geingobsaid, adding that “lack of prioritisation and implementa-tion of plans and activities that promote regional integra-tion” is another challenge that should be tackled if SADCwants to achieve deeper integration.

He said that to address these challenges the region hasalso “pursued a developmental approach to integrationthat focuses on sectoral cooperation.”

This developmental approach is premised on four in-terdependent priority areas, which are aligned to theAfrican Union Agenda 2063. These priority areas are:

Industrial Development and Market Integration; •Infrastructure Development in Support of Regional•Integration;Peace and Security Cooperation; and•Special Programmes of a Regional Dimension.•

The inaugural AU-REC Coordination Meeting soughtto enable RECs in Africa to take a critical look at theprogress made in implementing and meeting the objec-tives of their integration agendas, as well as provide anopportunity to take stock of the synergies between the ac-tivities of the RECs and the AU agenda and programmes.

The AU is made up of eight RECs. These are the ArabMaghreb Union, Common Market for Eastern and South-ern Africa (COMESA), Community of Sahel-SaharanStates, East African Community (EAC), Economic Com-munity of Central African States (ECCAS), EconomicCommunity of West African States (ECOWAS), Inter-Gov-ernmental Authority for Development (IGAD) and SADC.

The RECs are the essential building blocks of the pro-posed African Economic Community (AEC) envisaged tobe in place by 2028.

The overall objective of the AEC is to promote cooper-ation and development in all aspects of human activity,with a view to raising the standard of life of Africa's peo-ple, maintaining economic stability and establishing aclose and peaceful relationship among member states.sardc.net


I N T E G R A T I O N



by Nyarai Kampilipili

A REGIONAL protocol ontrafficking in persons is beingdeveloped by the Secretariatto curb the vice which is onthe increase in SADC.

Trafficking In Persons (TIP)is among the world’s fastestgrowing organized crimes andSADC is intensifying efforts torespond to it.

TIP usually involves the il-legal movement of an individ-ual into a country forpurposes of exploitation.

Traffickers thrive on thevulnerabilities created by anumber of factors includingpoverty, conflict and post con-flict instabilities, gender in-equality, unemployment,economic instability and ageneral lack of opportunities.

Victims, mostly womenand children, are often enticedto leave their homes with falsepromises of jobs but are latersubjected to sexual exploita-tion, forced labour, slavery oreven the removal of body or-gans.

The modus operandi usedby syndicates includes falsenewspaper advertisements forjobs in towns or other coun-tries.

In other cases, young chil-dren are kidnapped and sold towork in factories, plantations orsweet shops; young men areforced to work in labour mar-kets such as agriculture andtextile industries for little or nopay; and babies or very youngchildren are stolen or boughtfor illegal adoption.

To tackle these challenges,SADC countries are strength-ening their legal frameworksto combat TIP and ensure thatcitizens do not fall prey tosuch criminal activities.

As such, the SADC Secre-tariat is developing a regional

protocol that specifically dealswith the issues of TIP.

The call to develop the TIPprotocol was made by theSADC Ministerial Committeeof the Organ on Politics, De-fence and Security Coopera-tion at their meeting held inJuly 2017 in Dar es Salaam, theUnited Republic of Tanzania.

The Secretariat said in Mayduring the SADC Senior Offi-cials and Gender Ministersmeeting held in Windhoek,Namibia that the process tocraft a regional protocol on TIPis now at an advanced stage.

The protocol will be accom-panied by guidelines on Moni-toring and Reporting on TIP,which will be used to measureimplementation of the protocol.

Since the inception of a pro-gramme on combatting TIP bySADC in 2013, a number ofachievements have been re-alised.

The milestones include as-sistance to SADC MemberStates to develop their na-tional action plans, as well asvictims’ identification guide-lines, implementing regula-tions and standard operatingprocedures referral mecha-nisms.

Capacity to respond to TIPalso improved through thetraining of law enforcement of-ficers, as well as the media andcriminal justice practitioners.

A total of 14 SADC coun-tries have taken measures toaddress the issue of trafficking

in persons, and have set upanti-trafficking structureswhich help in supporting vic-tims of trafficking.

These are Angola,Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho,Madagascar, Malawi, Mauri-tius, Mozambique, Namibia,Seychelles, South Africa, Tan-zania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

A recent publication bySADC on Preventing andCombating Trafficking in Per-sons: Lessons from the SADCregion highlights efforts byMember States in strengthen-ing victim support and protec-tion through food assistance,clothing, shelter, safe housing,counselling, psychologicalsupport, and medical aid andif necessary, hospitalisation. r

THE SADC Gender and Development Monitor 2018 -- now in itsseventh edition -- will be launched on the margins of the 39th SADCSummit of Heads of State and Government scheduled for August inDar es Salaam, the United Republic of Tanzania.

The publication presents an account of progress made towards im-plementation of regional commitments to achieve gender equality andequity in line with the revised SADC Protocol on Gender and Develop-ment focusing on economic empowerment and Gender Responsive Bud-geting.

According to the publication, SADC Member States have made consid-erable progress in enacting national laws and policies for economic ad-vancement of women and men in the region.

However, there is a general discord that still exists between statutoryand customary law, which is a drawback towards progress.

The publication also shows that women, relative to men, are largelyengaged in unpaid care work and the multiple roles that women playare largely unrecognized by law, a burden which should be shared.

Some of the policy options proffered by the publication include theneed for SADC Member States to consider mainstreaming effective Gen-der Responsive Budgeting in all socio-economic activities, programmesand projects.

The SADC Gender and Development Monitor 2018 was produced bythe Southern African Research and Documentation Centre (SARDC)on behalf of the SADC Secretariat through information provided byMember States through the Monitoring, Evaluation and ReportingFramework.

SADC to launch publication on women economic empowerment

Regional protocol on trafficking in persons

G E N D E R


P A R L I A M E N T

framework of theproposed re-gional parliamentand to present itsfindings for con-sideration when

the Council meets again inDar es Salaam, United Re-public on Tanzania, in Au-gust ahead of the 39th SADCSummit.

Running under the theme“A Conducive Environmentfor Inclusive and SustainableIndustrial Development, In-creased Intra-Regional Tradeand Job Creation”, the 39thSADC Summit will deliberateon a wide range of issues, in-cluding reviewing progressmade towards achieving thelongstanding vision of aunited, prosperous and inte-grated region.

The proposed establish-ment of the SADC RegionalParliament will provide arepresentative institution forthe SADC citizenry, therebyserving as a valid interlocu-tor for the needs and desiresof the general public.

The Executive is alreadythe main driver of regionalintegration through inter-governmental institutions atsenior officials, ministerial orheads of state and govern-mental levels.

The Judiciary was repre-sented through the now sus-pended but soon to bereconstituted SADC Tribunalwhose primary role is ex-pected to be that of ensuringcompliance and resolution ofdisputes related to the inter-pretation and application ofthe SADC Treaty and sub-sidiary legal instruments.

A missing link would,therefore, be that of the Leg-islature whose central rolewould be to spearhead thedomestication of regionalpolicy and legal obligationsoutlined in the SADC Treatyand various sectoral proto-cols.

Transformation of theSADC PF into a RegionalParliament has been on thetable since 2004, but the pro-cess and plans were notclearly defined until lastyear.

The forum is an au-tonomous institution ofSADC established in 1997 asa regional inter-parliamen-tary body made up of 14national parliaments, repre-senting more than 3,500 par-liamentarians in southernAfrica.

The member parliamentsare Angola, Botswana,Democratic Republic ofCongo, Eswatini, Lesotho,Malawi, Mauritius, Mozam-bique, Namibia, Seychelles,South Africa, Tanzania,Zambia and Zimbabwe.

However, the forum hasnot been able to fully con-tribute to policy makingthat is important for re-gional integration becauseits formal role on SADCmatters has not been fullyrecognized, nor does itswork directly feed into theagenda of the intergovern-mental body.

This has seen the nationalparliaments embarking on aprocess over the years toforge a working relationshipwith the SADC Secretariat tocreate space for parliamen-

by Thenjiwe Ngwenya

THE APPOINTMENTof Boemo Sekgoma asthe first woman to headthe SADC ParliamentaryForum signals another steptowards equal representa-tion of women and men inpolitical and other decision-making positions in south-ern Africa.

Sekgoma was named asthe SADC ParliamentaryForum (PF) Secretary Generalat the 45th Session of the Ple-nary Assembly held in Ma-puto, Mozambique in July.

Prior to her appointment,she was the Acting SecretaryGeneral since June 2018, fol-lowing the departure of EsauChiviya, who had served theForum from July 2009.

“I am determined to con-tinue serving the institu-tional organs of the Forum,”she said, adding that “I amcommitted to making SADCa better place through parlia-mentary development.” One of her major tasks at thehelm of the SADC PF is tooversee its transformationinto a regional parliament.

This follows high-levelsupport by leaders at the38th SADC Summit held inNamibia in August 2018 toadvance the establishment ofa regional parliament as anintegral institution to driveforward the regional integra-tion agenda.

The SADC Council ofMinisters, which met inMarch 2019, created a TaskForce to undertake an analy-sis of the structure, functionsand the governing legal

tarians to participate moreformally in regional integra-tion processes.

In this regard, its transfor-mation into a regional parlia-ment will help to bridge thegap between citizens ofsouthern Africa and regionalintegration processes.

The Plenary Assembly ofthe SADC PF is the highestdecision-making body ofthe Forum, which com-prises of Speakers or Pre-siding Officers andParliamentarians who havebeen appointed by their na-tional institutions to partic-ipate at Forum level.

The newly elected SADCPF leadership, meeting fortheir 45th Session of the Ple-nary Assembly held in Ma-puto, Mozambique in July,agreed that transformationinto a regional parliamentremains a top priority forthe forum.

SADC PF President,Veronica Macamo Dlhovo,who is the Speaker of theMozambican National As-sembly, said the forum willsoon convene an urgentmeeting to discuss how thetransformation into a re-gional parliament wouldbecome a reality.

The 45th Session of thePlenary Assembly, whichwas officially opened by thePresident of Mozambique,Filipe Jacinto Nyusi, ranunder the theme “ClimateChange, Mitigation andAdaptation: The Role ofParliaments, Towards theImplementation of the ParisDeclaration and the Katow-ice Road Map”. sardc.net

New SADC PF chief ready to advance regional integration



B I O D I V E R S I T Y


ELEPHANT SUMMITS heldin Botswana and Zimbabwe inrecent months have agreed toseek the removal of the ban ontrade in ivory to allow commu-nities to benefit from the re-sources. This was one of the out-

comes of the African Union-United Nations WildlifeEconomy Summit held in Vic-toria Falls, Zimbabwe in June.In May, the Kasane ElephantSummit made a similar appealfrom five SADC Member States– Angola, Botswana, Namibia,Zambia and Zimbabwe. Despite several such appeals

and consensus among mostcountries in the region to lift theban on trade in ivory, the Con-vention on International Tradein Endangered Species of WildFauna and Flora (CITES) hasmaintained the restrictions. CITES, which is an interna-tional agreement that aims toensure that international tradein specimens of wild animalsand plants does not threatentheir survival, argues that theban is still necessary to protectthe elephants and other wildlifesuch as rhinos from extinction. This restriction is, however,

a setback for SADC MemberStates as the ban on ivory tradehas seriously eroded the rev-enue base for wildlife conser-vation and can lead toincreased cases of poachingas communities are not benefit-ing from ivory trade proceeds.

Pressure mounts for removal of ban on ivory trade Speaking at the AU-UNWildlife Economy Summit, theZimbabwean President Em-merson Mnangagwa said whilesouthern Africa remainsguided by the principles of sus-tainable utilisation of wildlife,the region continues to call forfree trade in hunting productsto create a balance betweenconservation and sustainableutilisation of wildlife resourcesby local communities. “We are gravely concerned

by the one-size-fits-all ap-proach, where banning of tradeis creeping into the CITES deci-sion-making processes,” hesaid. Countries in southern Africa

argue that the move to main-tain and reinforce the globalban in ivory trade has resultedin a boom of the elephant pop-ulation, which has now grownfar above the carrying capacityof forests in the region. For example, the elephant

population in Zimbabwe is ap-proaching 100,000, which isnearly three times its sustain-able carrying capacity. In other SADC Member

States such as Namibia andSouth Africa, the elephant pop-ulation stands at over 22,500and about 20,000, respectively. According to CITES, south-

ern Africa has the largest num-ber of elephants in Africa atabout 350,000, which is doublethat for East Africa where thereare an estimated 166,500 ele-

phants, mostly in the United Re-public of Tanzania, also part ofSADC. Although elephant popula-

tions in southern Africa are inAppendix II, meaning that com-mercial trade in species is al-lowed, countries from the regionhave not benefitted from the suc-cessful sustainable conservationprogrammes that they have em-barked upon during the past fewdecades. The elephant populations of

Botswana, Namibia and Zim-babwe were transferred fromAppendix I to II in 1997, whilethose in South Africa were trans-ferred in 2000. Appendix I lists species that

are threatened with extinction,while those in Appendix II arenot necessarily threatened andcommercial trading is allowedunder certain conditions. In 1989, CITES banned the in-

ternational commercial ivorytrade but later permittedBotswana, Namibia, SouthAfrica and Zimbabwe to sellsome stocks of their ivory toJapan, totalling over 150 tonnesin 1997 and 2002. The decision was made in

recognition of the fact that somesouthern African elephant pop-ulations are healthy and wellmanaged. Other sales in these countries

took place in 1999 and 2008 andearned some US$20 million forelephant conservation and com-munity development pro-

grammes in and around the ele-phant range areas. However, since 2008, there has

been a nine-year moratorium ortemporary prohibition in sale ofivory, which was supposed toend in 2017 but no stockpileshave been sold until now. According to a declaration re-

leased after the Wildlife Econ-omy Summit, local communitiesare the “front line of defence inprotecting natural resources andcombatting illegal wildlifetrade,” hence should be allowedto benefit from their resources. Deputy Executive Director for

the UN Environment Pro-gramme, Joyce Msuya, said theparticipation of local communi-ties at the summit is a positivestep in the shift towards a sustain-able wildlife economy for Africa. “When communities living

closest to wildlife have a clearrole and stake in managing na-ture, they have a stronger incen-tive to conserve it,” she said. Southern Africa is expected to

make further appeals on the re-moval of the ivory trade ban atthe upcoming 18th meeting ofthe Conference of the Parties toCITES scheduled for August inGeneva, Switzerland. The Wildlife Economy Sum-mit, which was held under thetheme “Communities forConservation, Harnessing Con-servation Tourism and Support-ing Governments,” is thefirst of its kind on the Africancontinent. r



P E A C E & S E C U R I T Y

2011, the Interpol Regional Bu-reau has been assisting in thecoordination of SARPCCOjoint operations and investiga-tions, and other activitiesaimed at the prevention andcombating of crime.

SARPCCO is the primaryforce in southern Africa for theprevention and fighting ofcross-border crime. It wasformed in 1995 in Zimbabwe

and has firmly established it-self as a benchmark for inter-national police cooperationand is supported by the Inter-pol Regional Bureau in Harare,which coordinates its activitiesand programmes.

Priority crimes that arehandled by SARPCCO in-clude terrorism; motor vehi-cle theft; drugs andcounterfeit pharmaceuticals;

SADC AND the InternationalPolice Organisation have fi-nalised a revised agreement tostrengthen cooperation be-tween the two organisations inareas of law enforcement andcriminal justice.

The SADC Executive Secre-tary, Dr Stergomena LawrenceTax, said the revised agreementis now ready for signature.

“The Agreement will assistin creating an ideal platformfor collaboration betweenSADC and Interpol, and sup-port to law enforcement infighting transnational organ-ised crime,” she said.

The revised agreement is ex-pected to establish a frame-work for operational policecooperation between SADCand Interpol, and to determinethe secretariat functions thatcan be provided, on behalf ofSADC, to the Southern AfricanPolice Chiefs Cooperation Or-ganisation (SARPCCO) by In-terpol through its regionalbureau in Harare.

Under the existing agree-ment, which was signed in

economic and commercialcrimes; firearms andexplosives; trafficking ingold, diamonds and otherprecious stones and metals;crimes against womenand children; illegal immi-grants and stolen and losttravel documents; wildlifecrime and endangeredspecies; and trafficking inhuman beings.

SADC, Interpol agreement ready for signature

Combating terrorism in SADCSADC HAS developed mea-sures to address the emergingthreats of terrorism, whichthreaten to undermine thepeace and stability in the re-gion.

The SADC RegionalCounter Terrorism Strategyand an Action Plan was pre-sented to the 21st MinisterialCommittee of the SADC Organon Politics, Defence and Secu-rity Cooperation held inLusaka, Zambia on 19 July forconsideration.

The strategy and actionplan are expected to be for-

warded to the SADC Councilof Ministers and ultimatelyto the 39th Summit of SADCHeads of State and Govern-ment scheduled for 17-18August in Dar es Salaam, Tan-zania for final endorsement.

The SADC Executive Secre-tary, Dr Stergomena LawrenceTax, said terrorism is a matterof great concern in the SADCregion, hence it requires jointeffort to address the challenge.

“The gravity of terrorism,and the sophistication andcrossborder nature of transna-tional organised crime require

joint efforts, and strong collab-oration between MemberStates and other partners,” shesaid.

“It is very critical that wecontinue to collaborate, in ad-dressing these alarming threats.

It is only through joint andconcerted efforts that the regionwill be able to effectively ad-dress these threats.”

Terrorism usually refers tothe use of intentionally indis-criminate violence as a meansto create terror among massesof people or fear to achieve a re-ligious or political aim.

Peace, security key to regional integrationSOUTHERN AFRICA shouldcherish the peace that prevailsin most parts of the region be-cause without stability there isno economic development andintegration.

The SADC Chairperson ofthe Ministerial Committee ofthe SADC Organ on Politics,Defence and Security Cooper-ation, Hon. Joseph Malanjisaid this at the 21st meeting ofthe ministerial committeeheld in Lusaka, Zambia on 19July.

Malanji, who is the Zam-bian Minister of Foreign Af-

fairs, said the region should becommended for establishingthe Organ on Politics, De-fence and Security Coopera-tion to promote peace andsecurity in SADC.

“I need not overemphasisethe importance we all attach topeace and security both in ourrespective countries and in theregion,” he said.

“They are essential compo-nents needed to create anenabling environment forMember States to develop com-mon policies and strategies atfostering economic and social

development within the SADCregion.”The SADC ExecutiveSecretary, Dr StergomenaLawrence Tax, concurred, say-ing that during the 2018/19 pe-riod, the Organ has so farobserved elections in a total ofsix SADC Member States.

The six Member States arethe Union of Comoros, Demo-cratic Republic of Congo (DRC),Kingdom of Eswatini, Mada-gascar, Malawi and SouthAfrica.

“For the DRC, the historicand peaceful transfer of powerwas celebrated in and outside

the region, as it marked a newera for economic prosperity,peace, and political stability inthe DRC,” Dr Tax said.

She said by December 2019,four other SADC MemberStates – Botswana, Mauritius,Mozambique and Namibia –are expected to go to the polls.

“We count on the goodwillof SADC Member Statesto send electoral observers asper SADC guiding principles,this will enable theregion to remain on its democ-racy consolidation trajectory,”she said.


MWALIMU JULIUS Kambarage Nyerere was an icon and inspira-tion to the liberation of southern Africa, and a hero in the region,which achieved independence with his support and that of the peo-ple of the United Republic of Tanzania.

This was said in Butiama on 29 June 2019 during a ceremony tohonour Mwalimu Nyerere by the Chairman and Board of the South-ern African Research and Documentation Centre (SARDC) in thisyear of the 20th anniversary of his death.

The SARDC Chairperson, Hon. Professor Peter H. Katjavivi, saidthat Mwalimu inspired and supported a generation of leaders andfreedom fighters, and mobilized material, diplomatic and moralsupport for the independence movement in Southern Africa.

Hon. Katjavivi, who is Speaker of the National Assembly ofNamibia and a senior official of the SWAPO party, said Mwalimu’sinspiration and support was a key factor in his country and othersin the region achieving independence.

Hon. Katjavivi spent 27 years in exile during the liberation strug-gle, starting with his arrival in Tanzania, and later served as DeputyRepresentative of SWAPO in Tanzania before becoming represen-tative in Europe.

The SARDC Board meeting was held at Mwitongo Lodge in Bu-tiama on 29-30 June.

Board Members were taken on a guided tour of thecomplex by Mwalimu’s son Madaraka Nyerere, whois also a member of the Board of SARDC.

Highlights of the tour included the family housewith Mwalimu’s personal library, the museum and themausoleum where Mwalimu Nyerere was laid to restin October 1999. Hon. Katjavivi laid a wreath on thegrave on behalf of the Board, and planted a tree at thesite.

SARDC is based at Julius K. Nyerere Housein Harare, Zimbabwe, and works throughout the16 Member States of SADC. Board members aredrawn from various countries and disciplines. r

The SARDC Executive Direc-tor Munetsi Madakufamba said“SARDC shall endeavour to up-hold Nyerere’s ideals and prin-ciples and carry forward hislegacy.”

SARDC is a widely respecteddevelopment research institu-tion that provides knowledgesupport to regional policy initia-tives such as infrastructure, in-dustrialization, energydevelopment, climate change,water resources, gender and de-velopment, and China-Africa re-lations.


and more deeply so that ourpeople can be inspired to self-develop and our friends can as-sist us in that developmentprocess.

“And that is how thethought and development of theSARDC was conceived,” Mkapasaid.

He paid tribute to the Found-ing Directors of SARDC, includ-ing the late David Martin, as ajournalist widely respected forhis integrity and factual report-ing, and “a nationalist beyondborders, a true Africanist,” whoused his arsenal of words as afreedom fighter.

Mkapa urged SADC andMember States to give practicalsupport to SARDC as the centreis playing an important role intracking progress and raisingawareness of regional develop-ment issues, achievements andchallenges.

“I hope SADC MemberStates can move forward tostrengthen the capacity of thiscentre, but also to drive memberstates to exchange more infor-mation about their develop-ment challenges, about theirdevelopment strategies, (and)about their developmentparadigms so that we can trulymove together in unity towardsgreater freedom of our people,”he said.

SARDC is a knowledge part-ner of SADC, with a large repos-itory of regional information,and an MOU first signed in1995, which was revised andbroadened in 2005, and re-freshed in 2015.

Naming the SARDC premisesas Julius K. Nyerere House waspart of a bigger initiative by theSARDC Board to honour theFounding Patron, that includedpublishing a book titled JuliusNyerere, Asante Sana, Thank YouMwalimu that is a compilation ofhis key statements and perspec-tives on development issues, andis well illustrated with historicalphotographs.

JULIUS NYERERE, who wasaffectionately addressed asMwalimu (Teacher), recognizedthe key role of knowledge as astrategic resource for freedomand development.

As Chairman of the FrontLine States, he motivated for theestablishment of the SouthernAfrican Research and Documen-tation Centre (SARDC), and be-came the Founding Patron.

SARDC was established in1985, the year he retired as Pres-ident of the United Republic ofTanzania. The challenge to beaddressed was the collectionand distribution of informationacross borders, and support forregional policy development,following the establishment ofthe Southern African Develop-ment Coordination Conference(SADCC), the forerunner ofSADC, in 1980.

The story was told by H.E.Benjamin Mkapa, the formerPresident of the United Repub-lic of Tanzania (1995-2005), whoas Mwalimu’s foreign ministerwas a key adviser on the estab-lishment and early develop-ment of SARDC, which hasgrown to become a widely re-spected regional policy instituteand think tank.

Speaking at the naming cere-mony of the SARDC building inHarare, Zimbabwe, as Julius K.Nyerere House, Mkapa said it isimportant for SADC and the restof the African continent to valueand be guided by the ideals andprinciples of Nyerere, who be-lieved that unity, integrity andknowledge are critical for socio-economic development.

“Towards the end of the1970s, when it was very clearthat we are going to win, wesaid now the challenge is notjust the question of getting free-dom, but also using that free-dom in order to strengthen ourcapacity to develop, and wewould require the same knowl-edge, or more knowledge now,to disseminate it more widely

Mwalimu Nyerere honoured at a ceremony in Butiama

K N O W L E D G E

SARDC also runs a regionalnews service, Southern AfricanNews Features that providesknowledgeable background arti-cles about regional developmentissues and events in southernAfrica and the African continent,accessible on www.sardc.net as wellas the SADC website www.sadc.int

SARDC has a rich historicalarchive which is being digitizedfor online access, and is workingwith UNESCO to produce re-source materials on the regionaldimensions and linkages of theNational Liberation Movements.

He taught us that “Knowledge is Power”.

Nyerere –“Knowledge is Power”



August – October 2019

August5-9, Tanzania SADC Industrialization Week 2019

The event aims to popularize the SADC Industrialization Strategy andRoadmap approved in 2015. Now in its fourth year, the annual event com-prises a high-level conference to discuss ways of advancing the industri-alization agenda as well as an exhibition to allow various stakeholders toengage and network.

7-10, Zimbabwe, SADC Lawyers’ Association Annual General Meeting Lawyers from SADC Member States will meet to discuss the role of thelegal profession in advancing regional economic integration and infras-tructure development, and in structuring Public Private Partnerships. Theywill explore the 39th SADC Summit theme and debate how the rule oflaw and good governance can be strengthened in the SADC region.

8-19, Tanzania 39th SADC Summit of Heads of State and GovernmentSADC leaders will meet for their annual Summit to discuss issues aimedat advancing regional integration and development. The Summit, set for17-18 August, is preceded by meetings of senior officials and the Councilof Ministers. Summit Theme – A Conducive Environment for Inclusive andSustainable Industrial Development, Increased Intra-Regional Trade, andJob Creation.

28-30, Angola Southern African Regional Climate Outlook Forum Climate experts from SADC Member States will meet to review the re-gional climate outlook, using indicators of seasonal rainfall to produce aregional forecast for the 2019/20 rainfall season.

26-30, DRC 53rd SAPP Management Committee Meetings The meeting brings together leaders of power utilities and government rep-resentatives from the 12 member states of the Southern African Power Pool(SAPP) to discuss key management issues related to the regional electricitygrid and regional power supply.

September17-30, New York 74th Session of the UN General Assembly

The 74th Session of the UN General Assembly takes place at UN headquar-ters in New York. The General Assembly agenda includes the General Debatewhich is the occasion for world leaders to discuss global issues. The GeneralAssembly is the main representative and policy making organ of the UnitedNations.

24-25, New York Sustainable Development Goals SummitHeads of State and Government will gather at the United Nations Head-quarters in New York to review progress in the implementation of the 2030Agenda for Sustainable Development and the 17 Sustainable Develop-ment Goals.

TBA, Botswana SADC ETG MeetingThe Energy Thematic Group (ETG) is a coordination meeting of SADC andits subsidiary organizations with cooperating partners and experts to re-view the energy situation in the region.

TBA, Botswana SADC Water Strategic Reference Group Meeting The SADC Water Strategic Reference Group (WSRG) will meet in Gaborone,Botswana, to discuss pertinent issues affecting the water sector. The WSRGis a forum for stakeholder collaboration in water sector development andconservation in southern Africa.

October 15, Mozambique Mozambique Elections

Mozambique will hold presidential, legislative and provincial electionson 15 October 2019. The last presidential, parliamentary and provincialelections were held in 2014.

TBA, Botswana Botswana Elections Batswana will go to the polls in October to choose parliamentary and localgovernment representatives in elections that are expected to be closelycontested. The date is yet to be announced.

E V E N T SSOUTHERN

AFRICA TODAY

SADC TODAY VOL 21 NO 5 AUGUST 2019

SOUTHERN AFRICA TODAYis produced as a reference source of

activities and opportunities in theSouthern African Development Community, and a guide for

decision-makers at all levels of national and regional development.

Southern African Development CommunitySADC Secretariat, SADC House, Private Bag 0095,

Gaborone, BotswanaTel +267 395 1863 Fax +267 397 2848/318 1070E-mail [email protected] Website www.sadc.int

SOUTHERN AFRICA TODAY is published six times a year by the Southern AfricanResearch and Documentation Centre (SARDC) for the SADC Secretariat in Gaborone,Botswana, as a reliable knowledge source on regional development. Articles may be

reproduced freely in the media and elsewhere, with attribution.

EDITORMunetsi Madakufamba

EDITORIAL COMMITTEEJoseph Ngwawi, Kizito Sikuka, Egline Tauya, Admire Ndhlovu,

Phyllis Johnson, Nyarai Kampilipili, Danai Majaha, Kumbirai Nhongo, Maidei Musimwa, Tariro Sasa, Tanaka Chitsa, Monica Mutero, Raymond Ndhlovu,

Pedzisayi Munyoro, Thenjiwe Ngwenya, Eunice Kadiki, Tonderayi Mpofu

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PUBLIC HOLIDAYS IN SADCAugust - October 2019

A shared future within a regional community

H I S T O R Y T O D A Y

1 August Parents Day DRC3 August Farmers Day Zambia8 August Nane Nane Peasant Day Tanzania9 August Womens Day South Africa12 August Eid al Adha Comoros, Tanzania12 August Heroes Day Zimbabwe13 August Defence Forces Day Zimbabwe15 August Assumption Day Madagascar, Seychelles17 August SADC Day* All26 August Heroes Day Namibia

2 September Umhlanga Reed Dance Eswatini3 September Ganesh Chaturthi Mauritius6 September Independence Day / Somhlolo Day Eswatini7 September Victory Day Mozambique 9 September Papal Public Holiday Mauritius17 September National Heroes Day Angola24 September Heritage Day South Africa 25 September Armed Forces Day Mozambique 30 September Botswana Day Botswana

4 October Independence Day Lesotho 4 October Peace and National Reconciliation Day Mozambique14 October Mwalimu Nyerere Day Tanzania 15 October Mothers Day Malawi18 October National Day of Prayer Zambia24 October Independence Day Zambia 27 October Diwali Mauritius

* SADC Day is not a public holiday but a commemoration of signing the SADC Treaty on17 August 1992

Remembering Nyerere’s contribution toSADC regional integration

When he drew up the constitution of his liberationpolitical party, the Tanganyika African National Union(TANU), he included that statement in the first article ofthe party constitution. Before Independence he told theLegislative Council,

“We the people of Tanganyika would like to light acandle and put it on top of Mount Kilimanjaro, which

would shine behind our borders giving hope wherethere was despair, love where there was hate, and

dignity where there was only humiliation.”

JULIUS KAMBARAGE Nyerere has a special place in the hearts andminds of the people of Africa, and especially southern Africa, as a sym-bol of freedom.

He fully supported the liberation of the continent from colonial rule,after gaining independence in 1961 in his own country, then called Tan-ganyika.

The priority of the newly independent nation and its then PrimeMinister, was national development, but he saw this as unachievablewithout the independence of the neighbouring states.

Julius Nyerere was the father of southern African liberation and afounding father of the Southern African Development Community(SADC).

Mwalimu Nyerere pursued the ideals of liberation, democracy and common human-ity into the rest of the continent and, with the leaders of the other few African countriesthat were independent in 1963, established the Organisation of African Unity (OAU),which later became the African Union.

The main objective was political liberation for the rest of the continent. Their toolfor achieving this, the OAU Liberation Committee, was hosted by Tanzania, and mostliberation movements were based there at one time or another.

He then set about building the East African Community, and later, the SADC. Noneof the countries that now make up SADC were independent at that time, the next wereMalawi and Zambia in 1964.

Mwalimu means Teacher in KiSwahili, and he taught the people of his country andthe continent many things, with emphasis on Freedom and Unity – Uhuru na Umoja.

He pursued unity at home by facilitating the union of Tanganyika and Zanzibar tobecome the United Republic of Tanzania.

He hosted the OAU Liberation Committee in the safety of Tanzania to support theremaining decolonisation of the continent, notably supporting those countries that hadto take up weapons of liberation in the 1960s,1970s and 1980s.

When he died 20 years ago, it was said at his funeral that -- “He carried the torchthat liberated Africa”.

He was the first Chairperson of the Front Line States who supported resistance tocolonialism on the continent and the end of apartheid in South Africa.

The leaders of Tanzania, Zambia and Botswana formed the Front Line States in 1974to work together in a united front for common security and for majority rule in neigh-bouring countries, under the chairmanship of Nyerere, and this was a forerunner of theSADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation.

The political changes in Namibia and South Africa in 1990 and 1994 following themilitary confrontation at Quito Quanavale in southern Angola, changed the face andfuture of the African continent, and completed the work of the OAU Liberation Com-mittee, but socio-economic development remains a vision.

The contribution by the United Republic of Tanzania to the liberation of southernAfrica is not well known or quantified, in cash, human lives and delayed development.

Although it was Nyerere’s leadership that mobilised an entire nation behind this vi-sion, it was not the achievement of one person as individual Tanzanians in both ruraland urban areas contributed a few shillings each in people-to-people support, althoughthey did not have extra themselves.

Born in Butiama on 13 April 1922, in what was then German East Africa, MwalimuJulius Kambarage Nyerere died on 14 October 1999, leaving a region that is free and in-dependent. r

“Let all of us in our different capacities begin to work, andwork together, in a coherent manner, for the unity of Africa,the peace of Africa, and the self-respect of Africa.

The work will be neither easy nor quickly finished. But itcan be done. It must be done. It is your duty to do it. Work,plan, campaign, and act for African Unity.”

And on the night of 9 December 1961, a team of climbers planteda torch and a flag on the summit of Africa’s highest peak, MountKilimanjaro, the highest freestanding mountain in the world, whilein Dar es Salaam, the lights went out in the stadium at midnightand in the dark, the British “union jack” flag was lowered and thenew flag of independence was raised. The lights went up and thestadium erupted into cheers of “Uhuru” … Freedom… thatechoed throughout the subcontinent for the next 30 years

“All human beings are equal, and Africa is one.”Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere


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