Last-Minute Arrival: Ramaphosa Heads To Zimbabwe For SADC Summit
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa was set to be the last regional leader to arrive in Zimbabwe for the 44th Ordinary SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government.
His aircraft departed for Harare on Saturday morning, while other regional leaders had already arrived on Thursday and Friday.
A schedule released by the Zimbabwean government indicated that Ramaphosa was expected to arrive on Friday; however, the reasons for his decision to travel on Saturday remain unclear.
On Saturday morning, the South African President’s office shared a video of Ramaphosa boarding a South African Air Force aircraft before he departed for Harare. It said:
His Excellency President Cyril Ramaphosa departs for Harare, Zimbabwe for a working visit where he is attending the 44th Ordinary SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government hosted under the theme: “Promoting Innovation to unlock opportunities for sustained economic growth and development towards an Industrialised SADC”.
Meanwhile, Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema, the outgoing chairperson of the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence, and Security, is among the few regional leaders not attending the SADC Summit in person.
On Friday, Hichilema participated virtually in the SADC Troika Summit from Lusaka, Zambia, while his counterparts from Tanzania and Namibia attended the meeting in person at the New Parliament Building in Mt Hampden.
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