Pretoria: President Cyril Ramaphosa has been elected as the interim Chairperson of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) following the regional bloc’s virtual Extraordinary Summit of Heads of State and Government held on Friday, 7 November 2025. The decision was made after the Republic of Madagascar decided to relinquish its role as SADC Chair due to recent political developments impacting its ability to fulfill the responsibilities of the position. In accordance with SADC’s Treaty provisions, South Africa, as the Deputy Chair, will assume interim leadership of the regional body until August 2026.
According to South African Government News Agency, President Ramaphosa, in his opening remarks at the Summit, reaffirmed the importance of regional unity and decisive leadership in tackling the challenges facing the region. He emphasized that the gathering was not merely for deliberation but to reaffirm a shared commitment to the peace, stability, and prosperity of the region. The President underscored that regional solidarity is crucial at this time.
He further highlighted the necessity for pragmatic solutions to the region’s socio-economic challenges, noting that the people of the region are looking for leadership that delivers a vision of a peaceful, inclusive, and industrialized region by 2050, but they cannot wait until then to meet their current needs.
The Summit communiqu© outlined that South Africa will guide SADC under the existing theme adopted in August 2025, which is ‘Advancing Industrialisation, Agricultural Transformation, and Energy Transition for a Resilient SADC’. The SADC Secretariat will engage Member States, in accordance with the principle of rotation, to identify a new Incoming Chairperson (Deputy Chairperson) by 30th November 2025.
The Extraordinary Summit extended condolences to the families affected by recent unrest in Madagascar and Tanzania and congratulated the leaders in Malawi, Seychelles, and Tanzania on their recent elections. Summit participants expressed their appreciation to President Ramaphosa for convening the meeting and accepting the leadership role of the regional body. The outgoing Chair, President of Zimbabwe, Dr. Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa, offered to host selected SADC meetings in Zimbabwe during the interim period.
President Ramaphosa stated that the region must continue to act with ‘urgency and foresight to stabilize the present while safeguarding the future’.