SADC is stable: Tax

WINDHOEK, 24 JUL – While the situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo remains unstable and incidents threatening national security in Lesotho are not uncommon, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) is very much a stable region.
This is according to SADC’s Executive Secretary, Dr Stergomena Lawrence Tax, in an interview with Nampa here on Monday, shortly after paying a courtesy call to President Hage Geingob at State House.
Tax was responding to questions on the region’s stability amidst worries that some SADC countries have experienced unnatural transition of power from one leader to another, while in some instances, leaders have overstayed in office.
“We don’t see any political instability in Zimbabwe. We don’t see any political instability in South Africa,” she told this agency.
Tax continued: “Every country has her own constitution. So as long as everything is done in line with guiding rules and the constitution… as SADC, we don’t think we should intervene.”
She explained that during the transition in Zimbabwe – which saw President Emmerson Mnangagwa ascend to power, bringing an end to President Robert Mugabe’s 30-year reign over the country – SADC remained firm in its position.
“We made it very clear that everything should be done in line with the African Union Constitutive Act, and SADC democratic principles. And that was done. They used their parliament and that parliament made its decision,” Tax explained briefly.
With that out of the way, Tax called on the rest of the world to shift attention to Zimbabwe’s 30 July elections.
“I think the focus should be on elections that indeed elections should be as democratically as we expect and peaceful and fair.”
Tax indicated that the meeting with Geingob was basically a touch-base, as Namibia prepares to assume the SADC chairmanship in August.
“It was to brief him on our preparations, where we are. We have discussed what should be the agenda. The agenda has been endorsed. We have discussed how to operationalise the theme,” she said.
The 38th ordinary SADC summit will take place in Windhoek from 17 to 18 August 2018, under the theme ‘Promoting Infrastructure Development and Youth Empowerment for Sustainable Development’.
(NAMPA)