The Southern African Development Community (SADC) will for the first time hold its annual summit via video conferencing amid rising coronavirus cases in the region, the regional body said on Tuesday.
SADC said its 40th Ordinary Summit of heads of state and government would be held via video conferencing on 17 August.
“In view of the challenges posed by the COVID 19 Pandemic, the summit and preceding meetings will be conducted virtually with a reduced agenda, focusing on the hand-over of the SADC Chairpersonship, and critical Institutional matters,” the organisation said in a statement.
Mozambique is expected to host the virtual meetings as the incoming chair of the 16-member regional bloc, with President Filipe Nyusi due to take over the chairmanship from President John Magufuli of Tanzania who has chaired SADC since the last annual summit held in Dar es Salaam in August 2019.
The heads of state and government summit would be preceded by meetings of senior officials, the Council of Ministers and the Organ Troika that are expected to take place between 10 August and 15 August, according to the statement.
The Organ Troika is responsible for overseeing peace and security issues in the SADC region and comprise Zimbabwe, Botswana and Zambia.
Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa currently chairs the SADC Organ Troika, deputised by President Mokgweetsi Masisi of Botswana. Zambia’s President Edgar Lungu completes the troika as immediate past Organ Troika chairman.
The annual summit comes as the region is facing a spike in reported COVID-19 cases, with South Africa among the top five countries in the world with the highest number of cases at 516,862 as of Tuesday.
JN/APA