WELCOME REMARKS OF THE PRESIDENT OF SOUTH AFRICA, HIS EXCELLENCY KGALEMA MOTLANTHE, ON THE OCCASION OF THE OFFICIAL OPENING OF THE SADC EXTRA- ORDINARY SUMMIT OF THE ORGAN, SANDTON CONVENTION CENTRE, SOUTH AFRICA, NOVEMBER 9 2008.

Your Excellencies, Heads of State and Government,
Leaders of Delegations
Ministers and Deputy Ministers,
SADC Executive Secretary,
Your Excellencies, Ambassadors and High Commissioners
Senior Government Officials
SADC Secretariat
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Members of the Media

I am honoured to welcome you to our country and this august meeting of the SADC Extra-Ordinary Summit of Heads of State and Government.

This Summit will be seized with the challenges of the instability and humanitarian catastrophe in the Eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo as well as the political and economic situation in Zimbabwe.

The progress our region has made demonstrates that peace and stability is a precondition to development. Any slide into conflict and war will reverse the hard-won gains of the people of our region.

We are confident that with our collective strength, capacity and commitment solutions will be found, however, daunting the challenges may appear. Let me emphasise that the objective of this Summit will be to resolve the issues before it.

Your presence here bears testimony to our collective efforts for rebirth of our continent through the relentless pursuit for African solutions to African problems.  It is indeed a firm expression that we are ready to tackle the scourge of conflict in our region and to promote peace and stability amongst our people.

This Summit will examine concretely what contributions SADC can make towards a speedy resolution to the situation in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The war to end all wars has not been found. Therefore, a lasting solution must be political and found through frank dialogue. The situation has continued to deteriorate, in particular, I am referring to the humanitarian situation. This places an obligation on us to act expeditiously.

This Summit follows two double troika Summits of SADC and of the Organ on Politics, Defence and Security, which were tasked to deal with three critical areas in our Region, namely;

Lesotho
DRC
Zimbabwe

I would like to highlight that, with respect to the issues in the east of the DRC, we call for an immediate ceasefire to allow humanitarian assistance to the displaced people. Let me repeat: We firmly believe that there is no military solution to the problem. We call for full implementation of both Nairobi communiqué and Goma agreement as well as the Amani processes. These processes are a basis for a sustainable solution to the problems of the eastern part of the DRC.

We are encouraged by the diplomatic interaction between the DRC and Rwanda.  We therefore encourage MONUC to continue to provide protection to the civilians. We also feel that their current mandate limits their ability to become real peace-makers and provide for a lasting solution.

We welcome the initiative of the Great Lakes Region in holding the international conference on the situation and also are encouraged by the involvement of the United Nations in this matter.

The involvement of all role players including SADC in the DRC is central, which means we should continue to play a prominent role, hence the need to deliberate on our strategic intervention.

The second issue on the agenda of the SADC Summit, is the inconclusive discussions on the formation of an inclusive government in Zimbabwe. The historic power sharing agreement signed on 15 September remains the only vehicle to help extricate Zimbabwe from her socio economic challenges.  It is however disappointing that it is two months since the signing of the agreement and the parties have not yet been able to conclude the discussions on the formation of an inclusive government.

The political leadership in Zimbabwe owe it to the people of Zimbabwe and the region to show political maturity, by putting the interest of Zimbabwe first.  Therefore, we urge the three parties to build on the achievement made thus far and reach an agreement on the outstanding issues including the Ministry of Home Affairs.

We note the beginning of the rainy season, thus further adding to the challenges in providing and lending our support to Zimbabweans to ensure that they are able to contribute to their food security.

As a region we remain ready to assist the peoples of the DRC and Zimbabwe to achieve lasting peace which will then allow them to tackle the much needed economic reconstruction and development.

Your Excellencies, it is indeed my pleasure to extend a very warm welcome to you, and everyone who will contribute towards the success of this Summit. I trust that you will find the arrangements put at your disposal conducive to successful deliberations.

I thank you.

Issued by the Department of Foreign Affairs November 9 2008