The Southern African Development Community (SADC) called for an extraordinary summit of the organization's leaders to address the issues of regional significance, including recent presidential elections in Mozambique and Botswana, the Zimbabwean Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting said on social media.
"The nation [Zimbabwe] is informed that an extraordinary summit of the SADC heads of state and the government is scheduled to be held in Harare on November 16-20, 2024, primarily to address emerging issues of regional significance," the ministry said.
The summit is expected to be briefed on political events, including recent elections in Mozambique and Botswana and upcoming elections in Namibia, the ministry also noted.
In Mozambique, more than 20 people died in clashes with police and hundreds more have been injured or detained during post-election protests, human rights organizations including Amnesty International reported.
On Tuesday, Mozambique's Defense Minister Cristovao Chume warned that the army would be called in if the protests continued, ahead of the major Thursday's strike inspired by Mondlane, a local media said.
"If the escalation of violence continues, there is no alternative but to change the positions of the forces on the ground and put the armed forces in charge of protecting what are the purposes of the state,” the minister reportedly stated at a press conference in Maputo.