RAMAPHOSA TAKES SADC HELM: "WE SERVE WITH HUMILITY, WE DELIVER WITH PURPOSE"
- Mpho Dube
- 19 hours ago
- 3 min read
President Cyril Ramaphosa pledges to deepen trade, drive industrialisation, and place young people and women at the centre of SADC’s economic future
By Mpho Dube, Editor-in-Chief
The Azanian | Truth. Fearless. Unfiltered.
AZANIAFROCOMEDIA – The Catalyst of Impact
"We accept this responsibility with profound humility and an unwavering commitment to the peoples of our region."
With those words, President Cyril Ramaphosa assumed the Chairpersonship of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) at the 46th Ordinary Summit in eThekwini, Durban — marking a new chapter of leadership rooted in solidarity, service, and shared prosperity.
It was more than a handover. It was a homecoming. A debt of gratitude repaid.
President Ramaphosa reminded the region that South Africa’s place in SADC is founded on sacrifice.
During the apartheid years, SADC nations provided shelter to freedom fighters, endured destabilisation, and paid with economic hardship and lives lost.
"Our participation in SADC is founded upon this history of courage, sacrifice and solidarity," Ramaphosa said. "On behalf of the Government and the people of South Africa, we accept this honour with humility."
The message was clear: South Africa does not lead SADC as a power. It leads as a partner. As a servant of the region.
The President laid out a bold but practical roadmap for the year ahead, anchored in SADC Vision 2050:
1. Deepen Regional Integration: Make it easier for goods, services, capital and skills to move across borders. Cut the red tape that slows trade.
2. Drive Industrialisation: Strengthen regional value chains, expand intra-African trade, and mobilise investment in infrastructure. Stop exporting raw minerals and start exporting jobs.
3. People at the Centre: Place young people, women and entrepreneurs at the heart of the region’s economic transformation.
4. Safeguard Peace and Democracy: Protect the stability that underpins development. "The strength of SADC lies not only in its institutions or its agreements, but in the solidarity of its member states," he said.
"We will do everything to work together to advance the industrialisation agenda," Ramaphosa pledged. "And we will turn our region’s mineral wealth into jobs for our people."
True to his style, the President committed to a chairpersonship of listening.
"We will approach our chairpersonship as a servant of the region," he said. "We commit to listen, to consult, and to seek consensus."
He thanked outgoing Chairperson President Emmerson Mnangagwa and Zimbabwe for laying a firm foundation, and congratulated Zimbabwe on securing a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council — a win for SADC and for Africa.
"Above all, we will work with every member state to translate our shared commitments into visible and lasting progress," Ramaphosa said.
From eThekwini, the message to 16 nations was simple: Integration must deliver. Agreements must become roads, factories, and jobs. Summits must become solutions.
Under President Ramaphosa’s stewardship, South Africa is positioning SADC not just as a political bloc, but as an economic powerhouse — one where borders facilitate trade, not block it, and where the youth are not a problem to be managed, but the engine of growth.
Integrity. Diligence. Unity. Service. That is the standard President Ramaphosa has set for South Africa’s SADC chairpersonship.The work begins now. And the region is watching.
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