President Cyril Ramaphosa says the Southern African Development Community (SADC) will consider a report on the political and security situation in Madagascar.
Speaking at a virtual Extraordinary Summit of Heads of State and Government convened on Wednesday, President Ramaphosa thanked regional leaders for responding to his invitation, saying the meeting was convened to consider a report from the Chairperson of the Organ on the political and security situation in the island nation of Madagascar.
He recalled that the region had met recently to address urgent organisational matters.
“As you will recall, we convened a similar session during the past month to attend to an urgent issue pertaining to the leadership of our organisation,” he said.
The President said Madagascar experienced political challenges in September 2025 that led to the formation of a transitional government. Following these developments, an Extraordinary SADC Organ Troika Summit was held on 16 October 2025 to assess the situation.
“The Organ Troika Summit resolved to urgently deploy a Technical Mission to undertake a fact-finding mission to Madagascar. The outcome of this mission is contained in the report we will be considering today,” he said.
President Ramaphosa said the developments in Madagascar highlighted the need to accelerate the implementation of regional development objectives under SADC Vision 2050, which seeks to achieve “a region whose peoples live in peace and harmony and can realise their economic potential.”
He reaffirmed SADC’s commitment to peace and stability through the SADC Protocol on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation, which aims to promote peace, security, democracy and political stability, while fostering solidarity among the peoples of the region.
“Over the past years, we have made progress towards achieving these goals, notably with respect to consolidating democracy, promoting good governance, ensuring electoral integrity and deepening a culture of human rights,” President Ramaphosa said.
However, he cautioned that political and security challenges persist in parts of the region.
“The situation in the Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo remains of grave concern. We also stand in solidarity with the government and the people of Mozambique in their quest for stability and security in the Cabo Delgado province,” he said.
Reflecting on Madagascar’s history, President Ramaphosa said the country has faced systemic political and security challenges, recalling SADC’s support in 2009 for a democratic and peaceful future. While progress had been made, he noted that recent developments showed that “much more work needs to be done to foster sustainable peace.”
“Like all peoples in our region and our continent, the people of Madagascar yearn for durable peace and development. We have a collective responsibility to make this a reality,” he said. – SAnews.gov.za
