Bonolo Maribe 1 hour ago News 0 Views
International Relations and Cooperation Minister Ronald Lamola says progress has been made in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region but there is still room to evolve.
This comes as the SADC Council of Ministers convened for a second day of discussions in Pretoria, recommitting to boost intra-regional trade despite ongoing challenges.
Lamola added that the region can expand regional integration even further.
“This meeting also noted and that is an innovative process within the SADC region, what I raise as the RISDP (Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan), the regional indicator in terms of how far we have gone in terms of the protocols that we have signed. And we have noted that there has been a very slight growth on regional integration from about 19% to 21%. It’s still not enough, it’s still little for this region that is organised, it’s cohesive, we share a lot of political views and so forth, but we can build more on regional integration.”
Lamola also revealed that the SADC ministers are expected to have another meeting in May to focus on geopolitics, especially as the conflict intensifies in the Middle East and look at other global issues.
“We will convene a special meeting of the foreign ministers in May to dissect all the data and come up with a clear response and mechanism, including a way forward to respond to all the issues of the geopolitics. How do we move together as a region, build and protect our sovereignty? How do we deal with the issue that, as a region, we own almost some of the majority of the critical minerals that the world needs to power their energy, artificial intelligence? How, as a region, must we use these resources for the benefit of the region in terms of beneficiation, in terms of value addition?”
| Today, the meeting concluded with a Gala Dinner hosted by Minister Lamola in honour of the Ministers and Heads of Delegation who attended the Ordinary Meeting of the SADC Council of Ministers, celebrating regional solidarity and cooperation. #SADCSouthAfrica#SADCCom pic.twitter.com/ufNVxIO8po
— DIRCO South Africa (@DIRCO_ZA) March 12, 2026
VIDEO | SADC has called for the end of the conflict in the Middle East:
www.sabcnews.com, https://www.sabcnews.com/sabcnews/lamola-urges-deeper-regional-integration-in-sadc/
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