Justice Ministers and Attorneys General from across Southern Africa have called on member states to quickly sign and implement regional laws to strengthen governance, uphold the rule of law, and speed up unity in the region.

The call was made during a Southern African Development Community (SADC) Committee of Ministers of Justice meeting held in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe.

South Africa’s Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, Mmamoloko Kubayi, who chaired the meeting, praised member countries for their commitment. She urged them to speed up the approval of SADC protocols so that regional agreements can bring real, everyday benefits to the people of Southern Africa.

The high-level meeting focused heavily on several key regional projects. These include the SADC Tourism UNIVISA, which is a plan to create a single, shared visa system to make cross-border travel and tourism much easier between participating countries. They also discussed a new agreement to set up a pooled procurement service, which will allow countries to buy medicines together in bulk to lower healthcare costs. Additionally, the Ministers looked at updates to the main SADC Treaty and laws governing legal affairs to modernise how the regional body operates.

Zimbabwe’s Attorney General, Virginia Mabiza, and SADC Executive Secretary, Elias Magosi, both stressed that building a prosperous and resilient region is impossible without strong, coordinated legal frameworks. The draft laws discussed during the meeting will now be sent to the SADC Council of Ministers and the Summit of Heads of State for final approval.

–ChannelAfrica–