The Chairperson of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), Emmerson Mnangagwa, has said the community is prepared to boost work to safeguard SADC citizens from all vulnerabilities.
"Our region stands ready to intensify efforts to protect the SADC citizens from all forms of instability, in line with the SADC Mutual Defense Pact," Mnangagwa stated during the extraordinary SADC summit on the Democratic Republic of Congo in Zimbabwe on Friday.
The SADC Mutual Defense Pact is an agreement that was reached in 2003 by member states to collaborate in defense and security. Some of the pact's aims include settling conflicts peacefully and collectively responding to armed aggressions against member states. The summit was necessitated by tensions that arose between Rwanda and South Africa following conflicts in DRC.
The chairperson acknowledged all the aid received from their international counterparts, however, indicating that a stop to the situation is a more pressing need.
"SADC appreciates the support rendered by international cooperating partners in response to the critical needs of the displaced populations. However, more must be done to alleviate the situation," he said.
"The peace and security of our region is a shared obligation. I, therefore, call upon us all to leverage this important meeting by engaging in frank and fact-based deliberations," Mnangagwa emphasized.
Mnangagwa proceeded to reprimand aggressors for the attacks aimed at DRC.
"SADC condemns in the strongest terms the attacks by aggressor forces," he said.
The SADC community consists of 16 member states, including Zambia, Angola, Namibia, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Seychelles, Tanzania, Mozambique, Madagascar, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mauritius, Botswana, Comoros, and DRC.