SADC leaders ‘regret what has befallen South Africa as a country’ – Ramaphosa
More than 100 000 African migrants were forced to flee or were deported from South Africa amid a wave of anti‑immigrant pressure.
At the 46th SADC Summit in Durban, President Cyril Ramaphosa expressed regret over the situation befalling South Africa as a nation. The summit, which took place on 17 August 2026, brought together regional leaders to discuss migration challenges. South Africa reported that over 100,000 African migrants were forced to leave or were expelled due to anti-immigrant pressure, workplace raids, and street protests sparked by a July deadline.
Ramaphosa emphasized the need for unity and collective solutions to tackle the complex issue of migration, acknowledging the difficulties faced by the country and the region. The summit also focused on progress towards the Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan and SADC Vision 2050, with discussions on peace and security challenges in the Democratic Republic of Congo, northern Mozambique, and Madagascar.
The leaders reaffirmed their commitment to dialogue, constitutionalism, and multilateral cooperation. Ramaphosa stressed the importance of industrialisation as a means to create jobs, expand productive capacity, and develop regional value chains. He highlighted the need to harness the region's mineral wealth, agricultural potential, renewable energy resources, and youthful population to transform these endowments into factories, farms, enterprises, skills, exports, and jobs.
Infrastructure development, particularly revitalising railways, modernising ports, and operationalising one-stop border posts, was another key focus area. Ramaphosa also emphasized the urgency in expanding access to clean water and sanitation, describing such investments as essential to human dignity and economic opportunity. He announced that the SADC Regional Development Fund would be operationalised to strengthen financing for regional priorities, stressing that member states must mobilise their own resources while building partnerships with international financial institutions, development partners, and the private sector.
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