President Ramaphosa joints SADC meeting, discusses political situation in DRC

President Ramaphosa, who arrived in Addis Ababa on Wednesday, is accompanied by the Ministers of International Relations and Cooperation Lindiwe Sisulu and State Security Dipuo Letsatsi-Duba.

President Cyril Ramaphosa has joined his counterparts from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) as they gather for the Double Troika Summit set to discuss the political situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). President Ramaphosa, who arrived in Addis Ababa on Wednesday, is accompanied by the Ministers of International Relations and Cooperation Lindiwe Sisulu and State Security Dipuo Letsatsi-Duba.

The summit will review and assess the political situation in the DRC following the recently held elections. Last week, the DRC electoral commission, CENI, released provisional results which declared opposition leader Felix Tshisekedi Tshilombo as the newly elected President.

Election candidate runner-up and opposition leader Martin Fayulu is contesting the election results and has appealed to the DRC’s Constitutional Court to cancel the provisional result. The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) also joined Fayulu and disputed the interim results.

African leaders have been mulling the provision of support to Congolese authorities to maintain a peaceful and stable environment following the landmark elections to discourage any violence following the conclusion of the electoral process.

The SADC Summit will later be followed by a consultative meeting of Head of States and Government of SADC Double Troika members; the International Conference of Great Lakes Region (ICGLR); African Union Troika and the African Union (AU) Commission chairperson.

(With Inputs from South African Government Press Release)