South Africa welcomes SADC help for strife-torn Mozambique

PRETORIA, South Africa

The South African Cabinet on Thursday April 22 said it welcomed the “efforts of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to bring about lasting peace and security as well as reconciliation and development in Mozambique.”

Acting Minister in the Presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni

The pronouncement follows the meeting of SADC’s Extraordinary Double Troika Summit of Heads of State and Government held in Maputo earlier this month, Acting Minister in the Presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, said when she briefed the media of the Cabinet’s meeting in Pretoria.

The Troika summit directed an immediate technical deployment of SADC personnel to Mozambique after Islamic terrorists attacked the northern region of Cabo Delgado, killing dozens of people in the province, Ntshavheni said.

According to her, the leaders at the summit noted with concern the acts of terrorism perpetrated against innocent civilians, women and children, and condemned the violence in the strongest terms.

The dead victims included one South African.

Thousands of displaced Mozambicans and other foreign nationals were evacuated to safer areas of the country following the attacks, she said.

The leaders “affirmed that such heinous attacks cannot be allowed to continue without a proportionate regional response,” she added.

At the summit, the leaders conveyed the region’s full solidarity with Mozambique and reaffirmed SADC’s continued commitment to contribute towards the efforts to bring about lasting peace and security in Cabo Delgado, as well as reconciliation and development in Mozambique, the minister said.

“Cabinet is also satisfied that South African citizens in Mozambique have been offered consular assistance through the Ministry of International Relations and Cooperation’s 24-hour Consular Command Centre,” she said.