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International Relations and Cooperation Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane will lead a South African government delegation at the meeting of the SADC Inter-State Politics and Diplomacy Committee (ISPDC) taking place in Dar-Es-Salaam, United Republic of Tanzania, from 20 to 24 February 2017.

Amongst other things, the meeting is expected to consider the situations in the Kingdom of Lesotho and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the consolidation of democracy in the region and the request from the Union of Comoros and the Republic of Burundi to join SADC.

Regarding the situation in Lesotho, the meeting is expected to focus on:

• Reports on the deployment of the Oversight Committee. The Committee has visited Lesotho several times since its operationalization in November 2016; and
• • The return to Lesotho by opposition leaders who were in exile in South Africa. The former Prime Minister, Dr. Thomas Thabane and other opposition leaders returned to Lesotho on the 12th February 2017.

With regard to the DRC, the meeting will receive a report of the SADC Electoral Advisory Council (SEAC).

The Union of Comoros and the Republic of Burundi have applied to join the SADC community. The MCO meeting held in Mozambique from 1 to 5 August 2016, mandated the Inter-State Politics and Diplomacy Committee to further consider the issue and to report to the MCO at its next meeting in 2017 for further consideration and advice to Council and Summit. The SADC Secretariat is expected to provide updates on the matter.

Issued by Department of International Relations and Cooperation