07 Jul 2021

The SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation troika has accorded serious attention to regional security challenges,  says Dr Lemogang Kwape.

 Dr Kwape, who is international affairs and cooperation minister  as well as the organ’s ministerial committee chair, was opening the committee’s 23rd meeting held virtually yesterday.

  He said worrying security threats included terrorism and violent extremism in Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado region and the volatile situation in Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) North Kivu and Ituri provinces as well as the attendant humanitarian crisis.

 Dr Kwape said the DRC humanitarian and displacement crisis had been worsened by  the  May 22 Mount Nyiragongo volcanic eruption.

    The challenges threatened peace and security in the region, he said.

“I need not emphasize that in the absence of peace and security, our regional aspirations as espoused in our Vision 2050 and the Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP 2020-2030) would remain a castle in the air. 

It is therefore fundamental that we make all efforts towards creating the necessary political conditions if we are to realize the socio-economic transformation of our region,” said the minister.

 Dr Kwape said the organ troika remained confident that through continued collective efforts and meaningful dialogue, peace, unity and stability would ultimately prevail.

“I am pleased to inform that last month we launched the SADC Humanitarian and Operations Emergency Centre, in Mozambique. As you know, the centre is a regional initiative aimed at assisting the SADC member states affected by natural disasters and other emergencies,” Dr Kwape said.

He also informed his audience that the June 23 SADC extraordinary summit endorsed a decision to deploy a standby force to Mozambique to support the country’s terrorism and acts of violent extremism combating efforts.

  Dr Kwape expressed the hope that all member states would  make contributions towards the mission’s success pointing out that given the cancerous nature of terrorism,  it would not only assist Mozambique but the region as a whole.

Regarding DRC, Dr Kwape said  the organ troika together with troop contributing countries had reached a common understanding with DRC government and UN on the reconfiguration of the Force Intervention Brigade as well as on the sustainable drawdown of MONUSCO.

SADC, he said,  was satisfied that UN had addressed almost all its concerns and was confident that collaboration would  ensure there was no security gap after  MONUSCO’s final withdrawal.

 He noted that the world continued to experience increasingly complex security challenges such as terrorism; human trafficking; transnational organised crime and  political instability.

Such challenges made planet earth a very unsafe place to live in, he said.

He said the situation compelled all nations to put heads and energies together and devise effective strategies which would produce long-term solutions to save the world.

Dr Kwape however said despite uncertainties, the region was making progress in consolidating democratic ideals including peace and stability. 

“Many of our countries continue to hold peaceful and credible elections in accordance with their respective constitutional mandates, even during this difficult period of COVID-19 pandemic,” he said

On the death of Zambia’s first  president, Dr Kenneth Kaunda, the last of the regional bloc’s founding fathers, Minister Kwape said the deceased’s name was synonymous with southern African liberation starting from Mlungushi Club to the Frontline States and Southern African Development Coordinating Conference (SADCC), precursor to SADC.

Dr Kaunda played a pivotal role in dismantling white colonial rule and apartheid in the region, he said.

 The minister said it was on the legacy of the selfless liberation icon that today the region enjoyed enduring peace and tranquillity. Ends