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Communiqué of the Extraordinary Summit of the SADC Heads of State and Government, Sandton, Republic of South Africa
1. The Extra-Ordinary Summit of the SADC Heads of State and Government met in Sandton, Republic of South Africa on 9 November 2008. The Extra-Ordinary Summit met to review the latest Political and Security situation in the Region with particular reference to the current developments in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Republic of Zimbabwe.
2. The Extra-Ordinary Summit was chaired by H.E. Kgalema Motlanthe, President of the Republic of South Africa and the Chairperson of SADC.
3.
The Extra-Ordinary Summit was attended by the following Heads of State and Government of their representatives:
DRC H.E President Joseph Kabila Deputy Chairperson of SADC
Lesotho Right Honourable Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili
Mozambique H.E President Armando Emilio Guebuza, Deputy Chairperson of
................................................
the Organ and Acting Chairperson of the Organ
Namibia H.E President Hifikepunye Pohamba
South Africa H.E President Kgalema Motlanthe Chairperson of SADC
Zimbabwe H.E President Robert Gabriel Mugabe
Botswana His Honour Vice President Lieutenant General Mompati S Merafhe
Swaziland Right Honourable Prime Minister Dr Sibusiso Barnabas Dlamini
Angola Honourable Assuncao A De Sousa dos Anjos, Minister of Foreign
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Affairs
United Republic of Tanzania ......Honourable Bernard K Membe, Minister of Foreign Affairs and
.................................................nternational Co-operation
Seychelles Honourable Patrick Pillay, Minister of Foreign Affairs
Zambia Honourable Kabinga J Pande, Minister of Foreign Affairs
Malawi H.E Agrina Mussa, High Commissioner to the Republic of South
.................................................Africa
Mauritius H.E Mahomed Ismael Dossa, High Commissioner to the Republic
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of South Africa
Madagascar H.E Bary Rafatrolaza, Consul General of Madagascar in Cape
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Town, Republic of South Africa
4.
The meeting was also attended by His Excellency Thabo Mbeki, Former President of the Republic of South Africa and Facilitator on the Zimbabwe Political Dialogue, Leaders of the MDC Formations, Right Honourable Morgan Tsvangirai, Prime Minister Designate and Honourable Professor Arthur Mutambara, Deputy Prime Minister Designate of the Republic of Zimbabwe, and the Executive Secretary of SADC, Dr Tomas Augusto Salomao.
5. In his opening remarks, His Excellency President Kgalema Motlanthe of the Republic of South Africa and the Chairperson of SADC welcomed all delegates to the meeting and re-affirmed SADC’s commitment in supporting peace and stability in the Region, in particular, DRC and Zimbabwe.
6.
The Extra-Ordinary Summit considered and endorsed the Joint Statement of Heads of State of the Great Lakes Region Summit of 7 November 2008 on the situation in the DRC, in particular the following:
I. Immediate ceasefire by all the armed men and militias in North Kivu;
II.
Establishment of humanitarian corridors throughout the area to ensure immediate address to the humanitarian crisis and tragedy;
III.
Immediate implementation of Nairobi Communiqué, Goma Agreement and all the relevant agreements and protocols to ensure sustainable peace and durable political stability;
IV.
The Summit of the Great Lakes Region called on the UN Secretary General to strengthen the mandate of the peacekeeping forces in DRC and provide adequate resources and be able to address the volatile situation;
V.
The Great Lakes Region would not stand by and witness incessant and destructive action of violence by armed groups against innocent people of DRC; if and when necessary the Great Lakes Region will send peacekeeping forces into the Kivu Province of the DRC;
VI.
The Summit of the Great Lakes Region called on the UN and all humanitarian agencies that have shown great support for the victims of military violence to continue to sustain and increase their support until human tragedy is stopped.
7.
The Extra-Ordinary Summit noted that:
I. The security situation in the DRC is affecting peace and stability in the SADC and the Great Lakes Regions;
II.
The eastern and humanitarian situation is deteriorating in the Eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo;
III.
Many agreements entered into regarding peace and security in the Great Lakes Region were not implemented because of the intransigence of Laurent Nkunda;
IV.
DRC Armed Forces need to be assisted in order to protect the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the country;
8.
In view of the above issues, the Extra-Ordinary Summit resolved that:
I. The SADC Team of Military Experts be deployed immediately to assess the situation in the Eastern DRC;
II.
SADC should immediately provide assistance the Armed Forces of the DRC;
III.
The SADC Military Advisory Team be deployed immediately to advise the Command of FARDC on matters which will be agreed by the Government of the DRC;
IV. The SADC would not stand by and witness incessant and destructive acts of violence by any armed groups against innocent people of DRC, if and when necessary SADC will, within the Nairobi framework, send a peacekeeping force into Kivu Province to the DRC;
V.
The SADC Military Monitoring Commission be dispatched to the DRC immediately to monitor the border between the DRC, Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda;
VI.
The SADC Troika of the Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Co-operation meet with the Troika of the Great Lakes Region expeditiously to avoid overlaps and map a joint way forward;
VII.
The Teams established by the Double Troika of Defence Sub Committee should implement their mandate of providing technical assistance in the DRC as a matter of urgency; and
VIII.
The deployed Teams should report to SADC via the Organ Troika.
9.
The Extra-Ordinary Summit decided to have a SADC representative in the mediation mechanism established by the Great Lakes Region for the DRC to be based in Nairobi, Kenya, with immediate effect.
10. The Extra-Ordinary Summit considered the political and security situation in Zimbabwe and observed that no government has been formed subsequently to the holding of the elections and the signing of the Global Political Agreement. As a result, the country is unable to effectively address the challenges facing the people of Zimbabwe.
11.
In view of the above, Summit decided that:
I. The inclusive government be formed forthwith in Zimbabwe;
II.
The Ministry of Home Affairs be co-managed between the Zanu-PF and the MDC-T;
III.
The efficacy of the arrangement referred to in paragraph 2 above, be reviewed after six (6) months by the Parties with the assistance of the guarantors, SADC, AU and the Facilitator.
IV.
To give effect to the these decisions and the provisions of the Global Political Agreement, the Parties must, without any further delay, introduce the Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment Number 19.
12.
The Extra-Ordinary Summit appreciated the efforts of His Excellency Thabo Mbeki, Former President of the Republic of South Africa and the Facilitator of the Political Dialogue on Zimbabwe in finding an amicable solution to challenges facing the Republic of Zimbabwe and encouraged him to continue with his mediation efforts.
13.
The Extra-Ordinary Summit will continuously remain seized with the ongoing political situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Republic of Zimbabwe.
14.
The Extra-Ordinary Summit congratulated the Republic of Zambia for the professionally managed credible presidential by-elections held on 30 October 2008 and wished H.E Rupiah Banda, President of the Republic of Zambia well in his new role as Head of State.
15.
His Excellency President Kgalema Motlanthe officially closed the Extra-Ordinary Summit.
Sandton, Republic of South Africa
9 November 2008
Questions and answers
Question Dr Salomao, you said that SADC has resolved that Morgan Tsvangirai and President Mugabe should co-manage the Department of Home Affairs, have they agreed to do so?
Answer he Summit received a report from the Troika held in Harare on 27 October 2008 where a report of the Facilitator, submission made by President Robert Mugabe, submission made by the designated Prime Minister and also a submission made by the designated Deputy Prime Minister were considered. It was clear that the outstanding issue was the management of the Ministry of Home Affairs and the parties themselves presented proposals – different proposals.
One, co-sharing; second, rotation and here they differ on who begins the rotation; and also towards the end the position was in the case of the MDC-T that for them the bottom line should be Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Home Affairs. That was the position of the MDC. Some progress was made and the parties accepted that the Ministry of Finance should be managed by the MDC-T. So the outstanding one was Home Affairs. The position of MDC-T was clear: in our view we want to propose the Minister in charge; second, the rotation. It was also considered and the question here, as I referred to before, was who begins.
Number 3, the position that the Summit took of co-administration of the Ministry of Home Affairs – meaning in practical terms you have two ministers: one appointed by Zanu-PF, the other one appointed by the MDC.
The Summit took time to look at the different options and proposals and the view of the Summit was we are dealing with an above normal circumstance. We are not dealing with a normal scenario. We are dealing with an above normal situation. And we cannot afford to postpone the formation of an inclusive government because there is a difference on who appoints the Minister of Home Affairs.
In view of that, looking at the three options, the one presented by the MDC – rotation, and the co-sharing – the position of the Summit was let’s take the approach of co-sharing and review the effectiveness of the co-sharing in 6 months time because we are dealing with an above-normal scenario. Under normal circumstances you cannot have a co-sharing of ministries, but here, in this case, you are dealing with an above-normal circumstance.
Secondly, the view of the Summit is probably, with the appointment of two ministers we can pave the way to build some trust between the parties and within 6 months we can review the situation.
The Heads of States who were present all said that never have they encountered a scenario like this – this is the first time they would deal with a scenario of co-sharing. But due to the fact that we are dealing with an above normal situation, let us try and review in 6 months time. But we cannot delay any longer in forming a government. So, that was the position of the Summit. Whether the parties agree or not, that is the position of Summit and the parties came to SADC and asked the Summit to make a ruling. This was the ruling made by SADC to be implemented. So, in terms of time frames, this is a matter of urgency. That is why, in the last part of the decisions taken by SADC with regard to Zimbabwe, the Summit decided to give effect to these decisions – the parties must, without any further delay, I repeat without any further delay, introduce the Constitution of the Zimbabwe amendment 19 meaning what, meaning that the implementation of the decision is a matter of urgency. This is one. If the parties agree or not, I think the parties will learn from the process that they have to work together. And as they build trust amongst them, when they review the effectiveness of the co-sharing they might come to a different position. Let us be reminded that the main purpose of the government of national unity is: 1 to amend the constitution of Zimbabwe; 2 to deal with the humanitarian crisis that we are facing in Zimbabwe; 3 to assess the economic situation and see what can be done to bring the economic crisis back to order, in doing that, paving the way for the next elections. I repeat, we are dealing with an above normal scenario. In this case, the solution, when you are dealing with above normal situations, you need to take abnormal decisions and review them in due course.
Question Dr Salomao, I would like you to elaborate on the business of co-managing the Ministry of Home Affairs? How does it work in practise?
Answer I have been a minister for 22 years and I have not had an experience of how you co-manage a ministry but if you take the Ministry of Home Affairs, you have the police, immigration and probably many other matters of concern for Zimbabwe and it is up to them, to the two ministers, to agree on how they are going to manage the ministries and if they differ, they go to Cabinet that we agree here, we differ here and Cabinet can make the ruling. I think that we are all in a learning process and I repeat that 1, we cannot afford to postpone and delay the formation of an inclusive government, 2, you are dealing with an above-normal scenario, 3, I believe that in due course the parties will learn how to work together. This may be a good starting point, who knows? Let’s give them a chance and we will see in due course. SADC and the AU will be there to help and assist.
Question Dr Salomao, could you elaborate on Article 19 of the Constitution?
Answer This is important to give the legal framework to the role of the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister and we cannot afford to wait for the amendment of the Constitution. We need to form an inclusive government today or tomorrow. And in view of that, it is important to proceed with amendment 19 as a matter of urgency. Yes, it is just to give the legal framework on the role of the Prime Minister.
Question Dr Salomao, the Home Affairs Ministry was not the only outstanding issue – have the others been resolved? How quickly will the government be formed?
Answer Yes, there are other outstanding issues. In the submission made by the designated Prime Minister, Professor Authur Mutambara, the Facilitator, President Robert Mugabe, they all agreed there are outstanding issues: 1, appointment of government; 2 formation of the National Security Council; 3 appointment of permanent secretaries; 4 appointment of ambassadors. Yes, there are outstanding issues but let’s take them phase by phase and the critical one is the formation of the government and I believe that the parties agree that well, we have to proceed, with the formation of the government. And it is positive to note that they might differ with the SADC position, but they all underscore that they are willing to implement the Global Political Agreement signed on 15 September 2008 and the position of the SADC Summit is that, okay, let us begin with the inclusive government as a matter of urgency, meaning immediately.
Question Dr Salomao, in co-managing the Ministry of Home Affairs, has it been decided who will start?
Answer If we proceed with the co-management between Zanu-PF and the MDC, I think that when it comes to co-sharing, you do not have one who starts because you have two ministers who are appointed to co-manage the ministry. They are appointed to co-manage the ministry so there is no room to consider who starts.
Question (Question in French)
Answer I believe that you understood that the first thing that the Summit did was to endorse the position of the Great Lakes Summit as the framework and you may notice that out of 17000 peacekeepers in the DRC, only a few of them are in the eastern DRC. More than 10000 are in Kinshasa and other parts of the country, meaning that the Summit of the Great Lakes asked the UN Secretary-General to review the mandate and also the terms of reference of MONUC. In view of that, the position of SADC is lets wait, watch and see the performance of MONUC on the ground and within the framework of the Nairobi Agreement, in consultation with this, we can take a further decision on the deployment or not of a peacekeeping force from the SADC region. We did not blame MONUC, our position is to request the UN Secretary General to reconsider the terms of reference and mandate of MONUC. That was the position of SADC with immediate effect.
Question Dr Salomao, could you please explain what will happen in the co-chairing of the Department of Home Affairs – if Zanu-PF is managing the Department, how will the Prime Minister designate ever receive a passport?
Question Dr Salomao, there have been many breaches of the 15 September agreement – many breaches on a daily basis. What will SADC and South Africa do as guarantors of this process to ensure that this does not happen?
Answer The view of SADC is that the first thing to be done is to have the government in place. We cannot afford that the parties come to SADC to raise concerns and complaints. We have the Global Political Agreement which says you have a President, a Prime Minister, a Deputy Prime Minister, you have a Cabinet. So let’s start. I believe it is the role of Cabinet to address the concerns that are affecting the people and citizens of Zimbabwe today. Let me also say that the issue of Mr Tsvangirai’s passport was raised during the summit as a concern because you cannot afford to have a Prime Minister who cannot travel because he does not have a passport and if the parties are willing to work together, they have to start the process of building confidence and trust among themselves. It is not the role of Summit to discuss passports but the concern was raised that this is not the correct way to deal with these issues so I believe the parties took the right note, in particular, Zanu-PF took note of the concerns of Summit in that regard.
Question Dr Salomao, could I clarify an earlier answer – you said, if the parties agree or not and you said the parties may differ with the SADC position but they all underscored the importance of implementing the Global Political Agreement. Do the parties agree to comply with the SADC position on the Ministry of Home Affairs and in terms of the Global Political Agreement, the split is Cabinet is 16 to the MDC and 15 to Zanu-PF – if Home Affairs is shared does it mean 15½ to each party?
Answer According to the statements made after the reading of the position of SADC, Professor Mutambara made a statement that he supports the ruling of SADC unconditionally; as did President Robert Mugabe; and the designated Prime Minister was disappointed with the outcome meaning that he did not agree but SADC was asked to rule and SADC took a decision and that was the ruling of SADC at Summit level. It is now up to the parties to implement.
Question Dr Salomao, could you clarify the views of Zanu-PF and the MDC to the proposals from SADC? What will happen should they not agree?
Answer Roman numeral 1 of the ruling of Summit states that Summit decided that the inclusive government be formed forthwith in Zimbabwe.
Question Dr Salomao, which of the two parties will be in charge of the police services? If they do not agree, will it not stall the formation of the inclusive government?
Answer Let’s leave it to the two ministers – it is up to them, if they do not agree to go to the Cabinet. They are ministers of the government of Zimbabwe and if they differ here and there, they know that a ruling will be made by Cabinet but I believe they will proceed to build trust and confidence amongst themselves.
Question Dr Salomao, I would like to know, if SADC has thought about taking to book leaders who have abused human rights in the DRC?
Answer No, SADC concentrated its full attention on two areas – the ceasefire and the humanitarian situation and I believe that at the appropriate time, if required, your concern will be addressed.
Question Dr Salomao, we already have a large number of people dying because of this war, a large number of women being abused by small children. But you now say you will deploy a military force when and if necessary? Do you still think it is not necessary to deploy such a force?
Answer I strongly recommend that you read the communiqué of Summit – item 6, roman I: The Extra-Ordinary Summit considered and endorsed the Joint Statement of Heads of State of the Great Lakes Region Summit of 7 November 2008 on the situation in the DRC, in particular the following: Immediate ceasefire by all the armed men and militias in North Kivu. That is number 1 – ceasefire – if we feel that on the ground we are progressing with the ceasefire, that is positive, if not, we need to assess what to do next.
Roman II: Establishment of humanitarian corridors throughout the area to ensure immediate address to the humanitarian crisis and tragedy – I repeat, and tragedy – yes, we are aware that we are facing a tragedy and time is not on our side.
Within the recommendations we also said, on item 8, in the view of the above issues, the Extra-Ordinary Summit resolved that the SADC Team of Military Experts be deployed immediately to assess the situation in the Eastern DRC and make recommendations – meaning immediately – meaning today – that was the position because it is clear that we are facing a tragedy but the starting point is that, let’s within the framework of the meeting in Nairobi ask the parties to respect the ceasefire. That is the precondition. If they observe the ceasefire it is fine; if not, from the report they will receive from the experts then you can take them to task using the militant language and I do not need to elaborate further on this.
Question (Question in French)
Answer You said a lot of things about Laurent Nkunda and here I would like to bring your attention so that we can be on the same page – that the Extraordinary Summit on item 7 noted that many agreements entered into regarding peace and security in the Great Lakes Region were not implemented because of the intransigence of Laurent Nkunda – yes you are aware of this. That is why we are deploying our team of experts and to make recommendations to the Troika for the Troika to take further decisions on that and with immediate effect.
Question Dr Salomao, you say that SADC should immediately provide assistance to the armed forces in the DRC – could you elaborate on this? There have been reports that there are Angolan forces in the DRC – can you confirm this – what is the view of SADC in this regard?
Answer No, but if required they will be on the ground soon, subject to the assessment and report by the military experts.
Issued by Department of Foreign Affairs on behalf of SADC
Private Bag X152
Pretoria
0001
9 November 2008
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