Your Excellency, President Dr Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa, President of the Republic of Zimbabwe and the Outgoing Chairperson of SADC,
Your Excellency, President Professor Peter Mutharika, President of the Republic of Malawi and the Chairperson of the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation, 
Your Majesty, King Mswati III of the Kingdom of Eswatini and Chairperson of the Incoming Chairperson of the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation,  
Your Excellencies Heads of State and Government  and Heads of Delegation present here
Honourable Ronald Lamola, Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, and Chairperson of the Council of Ministers;
Honourable Ministers;
The Executive Secretary of SADC, Mr. Elias Mpedi Magosi, Deputy
Deputy Executive Secretaries and the entire staff of the SADC Secretariat, 
Senior Officials 
Ladies and Gentlemen

Good evening, 

It is both an honour and privilege to address this august gathering of Heads of State and Government. South Africa has humbly accepted to preside over this meeting in our capacity as the Deputy Chairperson of the SADC Summit as guided by the Treaty. 

Your Majesty, Your Excellencies

We gather today not merely to deliberate on the agenda before us,  but to reaffirm our shared commitment to the peace, stability and prosperity of our region.

From its inception, the SADC has stood as a beacon of solidarity — a community founded on the values of unity, peace, mutual benefit and sovereign equality. As these very values are being tested by a convergence of challenges, we are called upon to act with both urgency and foresight — to stabilise the present while safeguarding the future. For the future of this organisation lies in our ability to earnestly deploy our institutional strength to find sustainable solutions.

Indeed, the challenges confronting our region are profound, but they are not terminal. Our collective sense of regional solidarity at this time is our strongest currency. Solidarity at this moment demands courage to act decisively in defence of agelong regional gains. 

Your Majesty, Your Excellency, 

The people of our region continue to look to us for leadership that delivers the vision of a peaceful, inclusive and industrialised region, which we have set ourselves to realise in 2050. But they cannot wait for that anticipated year to fulfil their current needs.  

This meeting must therefore serve as a platform to deeply reflect and collectively come up with pragmatic solutions to challenges besetting our region. For these reasons, the issue that is on our agenda could not wait for ordinary meetings of the SADC institutions.

I wish to thank the Council of Ministers supported by the Secretariat for preparing the meeting documents that will certainly serve as a firm basis for our discussions this evening.

I thank you for your attention and wish us all fruitful deliberations.

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