‘Drawing from the wisdom’ of the SADC Council of Ministers

Elias Magosi, Southern African Development Community (SADC) executive secretary, at the Ordinary SADC Council of Ministers meeting, Harare, Zimbabwe, 12 March 2025

I am greatly honoured to welcome you to this meeting of the SADC Council of Ministers. We thank you, ministers, for attending this meeting despite your busy work schedules.

Let me also thank the government of Zimbabwe, especially our host, professor Amon Murwira, minister of foreign affairs and international trade, and chairperson of the SADC Council of Ministers, and his team for a great partnership with the secretariat and their support in convening this meeting, as they have done with many others before this one. 

We thank you for the warm reception and excellent facilities put at our disposal for the conduct of our meeting today, and for the meetings lined up in the coming days. To many of us here, Zimbabwe, and Harare especially, has become our second home. Your hospitality has indeed enabled us to have a deep appreciation of Zimbabwe’s culture and strengthen our bonds of friendship with the people of Zimbabwe. I am certain that the incoming chair of council, Rasata Rafaravavitafika, and her team are taking copious notes and drawing enriching lessons from Zimbabwe’s hosting of and driving the SADC agenda. The reception for SADC in Antananarivo can only be better, if not at the same level.

Before I proceed, allow me, with a sense of gratitude, to welcome and congratulate ministers who are joining this ordinary council meeting for the first time, from Botswana, Mauritius, and Mozambique. We look forward to working with you and drawing from your respective wisdom and experiences as we advance the ideals of our region, being deeper regional integration and sustainable development, including the maintenance of peace, security and political stability.

On a sad note, the region lost one of the last living liberation and revolutionary icons, Samuel Nujoma, founding president and father of the Namibian nation, who died on 8 February 2025. 

The late president Nujoma was a visionary leader who dedicated his entire life to freedom, nation-building, and laid a solid foundation for a free, united and prosperous Namibia and the SADC region. He holds a special place in the history of our organisation – and as the founding president, he led Namibia to join SADCC by signing the instrument of accession on 24 August 1990, close to the 10th SADC Summit that was hosted by Botswana on 26 August 1990. 

Two years later, in 1992, Nujoma hosted a significant and historical summit which transformed our regional organisation from the Coordinating Conference (SADCC) to a Development Community (SADC), through the signing of the Windhoek Declaration and Treaty. He also served as the chairperson of SADC from August 2001 to August 2002. 

He was, indeed, the last man standing. As a region, we pay tribute to this statesman and thank God for sharing his life with us for so long. We wish to extend our sincere condolences to the Nujoma family, the government and the people of Namibia. May his soul secure eternal peace.

Ministers, this ordinary meeting, which is held every March in the SADC calendar, is a budgeting meeting for our region. Your meeting will, therefore, consider the budget for the 2025/26 financial year and the SADC annual corporate plan for approval. The annual plan is a tool that dissects and operationalises key regional priorities as outlined in the SADC Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP 2020-2030), a strategic framework guiding the direction of SADC. 

Your meeting will also receive a report on the implementation of the approved 2024/25 corporate plan and a report on the status of implementation of past council and summit decisions.

During this financial year, several milestones were recorded, including the ownership of the SADC Secretariat headquarters building in Botswana, which, for the past 15 years, was managed through a public-private partnership agreement. The SADC House was officially received by the chairperson of SADC, Emmerson Mnangagwa, president of Zimbabwe, together with the president of Botswana, Duma Boko, on 13 December 2024, on behalf of the SADC heads of state and government. This represents a significant milestone, as the SADC region now owns that magnificent building, towering at the foot of the Gaborone central business district. 

The successful handover of the SADC House is a testament to the value of the public-private partnership arrangement in delivering infrastructure development, fostering economic growth, and ensuring good public service delivery and private sector partnership. We extend our greatest appreciation and thanks to the government of Botswana for enabling and facilitating the entire process leading up to the handover ceremony. I wish to invite you, ministers, to visit the secretariat, your building, whenever you are in Gaborone, Botswana; we will be glad to receive you.

On the same day, the SADC chairperson and the president of Botswana led the groundbreaking ceremony, marking the commencement of the construction of the SADC Standby Force Regional Logistics Depot in Rasesa Village, in the Kgatleng District of Botswana, again, on behalf of all SADC heads of state and government. This depot will strengthen the capability of the SADC Standby Force for rapid deployment in peace support and humanitarian operations. 

Through our missions in Mozambique and now in the DRC, we have already secured equipment that should find a home at the depot once the construction is completed. We wish to thank the government of Botswana for the temporary storage of our equipment.

As I conclude, ministers, I wish to recognise the excellent work and diligence of the Standing Committee of Senior Officials, under the leadership of the chairperson of the committee, Albert Ranganai Chimbindi. I also wish to recognise the secretariat team led by my two deputy executive secretaries for their support in preparing for your meeting. I wish you fruitful deliberations.

May I now humbly request the chairperson of the SADC Council of Ministers, professor Amon Murwira, to deliver his remarks and officially open this meeting.

I thank you! Muito obrigado! Merci beaucoup! Asanteni Sana! Tatenda! Siyabonga! Ke a leboga!