BY SIFISO NHLABATSI
MBABANE – Eswatini has joined Southern African Development Community (SADC) member states in efforts to overhaul the regional bloc’s decision-making process to ensure resolutions are more practical, better prioritised and easier to implement.
According to information shared by the SADC Secretariat, senior officials from across the region began a two-day meeting in Durban, South Africa, on Monday to deliberate on a Mechanism for the Rationalisation of the Decisions of the SADC Council of Ministers. Eswatini was represented by Under Secretary for Political Affairs in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Vulindlela Kunene.
The discussions come as SADC seeks to improve the effectiveness of its governance structures by ensuring that decisions adopted by ministers are realistic, strategically focused and aligned with the financial, technical and institutional capacities of both member states and the SADC Secretariat.
Opening the meeting, Ambassador Tebogo Seokolo, Deputy Director General at South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation and Chairperson of the SADC Standing Committee of Senior Officials, said the review was aimed at improving the quality and implementation of regional decisions.
“We need to ensure that Council Decisions are strategically focused, appropriately prioritised, realistic in their expectations and aligned with the institutional, technical and financial capacities of both SADC Member States and the Secretariat,” said Seokolo.
He added that the exercise would provide strategic direction on measures to strengthen “the efficiency, coherence, effectiveness and credibility of SADC’s governance, decision-making and implementation architecture.”
SADC Deputy Executive Secretary for Regional Integration Angèle Makombo N’Tumba said an assessment conducted by the Secretariat had exposed gaps in the current system and pointed to areas requiring urgent attention.
She said the analysis highlighted the need to strengthen the strategic focus and quality of Council decisions while improving the prioritisation and sequencing of regional commitments.
“The analysis recommended strengthening accountability and implementation tracking mechanisms, alignment of Council Decisions with financial and institutional capacities, and enhancing monitoring, reporting and overall implementation effectiveness,” she said.
The meeting forms part of preparations for the 46th SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government scheduled for August 17 in Durban.
Several high-level meetings will precede the summit, including the Standing Committee of Senior Officials, the Finance Committee, the Council of Ministers, the SADC Public Lecture at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, meetings of the Organ Troika and the Summit of the SADC Organ Troika.
The outcome of the current discussions is expected to shape how future SADC decisions are formulated, prioritised and monitored, with the ultimate goal of improving implementation across the region and ensuring member states such as Eswatini derive greater value from regional cooperation.
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