South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is attending two summits of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) in Malawi on Tuesday and Wednesday, his office has announced.
According to the presidency, Ramaphosais participating in the summits in his capacity as president of South Africa and as chairperson of the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation.
In his capacity as chair of the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation, Ramaphosa is expected to convene on Tuesday an Extraordinary SADC Organ Troika Summit, plus personnel of contributing countries and Mozambique, it added.
The president would then participate in the Extraordinary Summit of SADC Heads of State and Government on Wednesday, the presidency said.
“The SADC Troika Summit will review progress of the SADC Mission in Mozambique (SAMIM), which was deployed by the SADC to support Mozambique to combat terrorism and acts of violent extremism,” the office said in a statement on Tuesday.
The troops are fighting a growing Islamic insurgency which has killed over 3,000 people and displaced nearly 270,000 others since it started in 2017 in the northern Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado where a multi-billion-dollar offshore gas plant is under threat from the insurgents.
The personnel contributing countries from SADC are Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, Malawi, South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia.
NM/jn/APA