Durban Delivers: South Africa Takes the SADC Chair After Hosting a Successful 46th Summit

South Africa is officially at the helm of Southern Africa. Cabinet has welcomed the successful hosting of the 46th SADC Summit in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, which marked the beginning of South Africa’s Chairship of the 16-member regional bloc, home to more than 400 million people.

President Cyril Ramaphosa accepted the chairpersonship from Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa at the Summit of SADC Heads of State and Government in eThekwini, saying South Africa assumed the responsibility “with great humility and a deep sense of responsibility”, SAnews reported.

A summit with a bold theme

The Durban gathering was held under the theme Resilient, Sustainable and Inclusive Industrialisation through Infrastructure Development, Agricultural and Critical Minerals Transformation in pursuit of a Just World.

Leaders considered reports on the implementation of the Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan 2020–2030, which drives the region’s peace, security, economic, health and infrastructure agenda, and reviewed progress on the North-South Economic Corridor, including a new corridor investment programme and management institution. Member states will identify at least three high-impact projects to take forward at the next Council of Ministers.

South Africa’s priorities at the helm

Setting out the country’s agenda for its tenure, President Ramaphosa pledged to work closely with all member states and to build towards the bloc’s Vision 2050.

“We will seek greater integration of our economies, building ties of trade and investment that drive resilient, sustainable and inclusive industrialisation,” the President said.

He also committed South Africa to promoting peace, security and stability across the region, describing these as essential conditions for the wellbeing and development of its people, and thanked the SADC Secretariat, led by Executive Secretary Elias Magosi, for supporting the Community’s work.

A debt of gratitude, a spirit of solidarity

The President rooted South Africa’s leadership in the region’s shared history, recalling how neighbouring states supported the country’s path to democracy.

“As a nation, we owe a debt of gratitude to the members of SADC and its predecessor, the Southern African Development Co-ordination Conference, for their contribution to the achievement of democracy in our country,” he said, adding that progress in the region “will be secured only through unity, cooperation and solidarity”.

With the Summit hailed as a success and the chairship now in South African hands, the year ahead offers the country a prime opportunity to help translate the region’s shared vision into tangible economic opportunities for its people, from trade and investment to industrial growth and cross-border infrastructure.

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