‘Reclaiming SADC for People’s Development – SADC Resources for SADC Peoples’

We the representatives of more than 500 delegates drawn from grassroots movements, community-based organizations, faith based organizations, women’s organizations, labour, student, youth, economic justice and human rights networks and other social movements; gathered at the SADC People’s Summit convened by the Southern Africa People’s Solidarity Network (SAPSN); People’s Dialogue and Rural Women’s Assembly (RWA) at the Big Five Lodge, Gaborone, Botswana, from the 15th-16th August 2015, under the theme ‘Reclaiming SADC for People’s Development – SADC Resources for SADC People’;

Acknowledging the role of the Southern Africa People’s Solidarity Network in mobilising citizens of the regions to defend their livelihoods, offer alternatives and fight for their rights;

Noting the existence of SADC as a regional economic bloc with a relatively better peace and security dividend, in a well resourced Africa, but burdened with conflict and human insecurity;

Concerned with:

• Rising and unprecedented levels of corruption in the region negatively impacting financing for development;

• The high levels of Illicit Financial Flows affecting the region and the rest of the African continent;

• The lack of financial support, especially subsidies, to small scale farmers;

• The continued resource exploitation and looting by foreign investors and Transnational Corporations in collaboration with our ruling class and elites with no tangible benefits to the citizens;

• The increasing challenges that farmers continue to face, land grabs, poor trade policies, weak tenure regimes as well as SADC member states’ failure to promote indigenous seeds and knowledge systems which resist climate change vagaries;

• Climate change catastrophe in the form of droughts, floods and extreme temperatures;

• Increasing failure by most SADC Governments to guarantee access to adequate and nutritious food, essential social services, in particular health, education, water and sanitation;

• Recurrence of attacks on African nationals in some SADC countries, as well as the deteriorating political and economic conditions in some countries in the region, forcing citizens to flee to other countries;

• The proliferation of pro-capital labour laws in our countries leading to intensification of labour exploitation in the form of unfair labour practices and precarious employment conditions;

• The shrinking space for public participation in key national and regional platforms, where our future and livelihoods are determined;

• The laxity of leaders in decisively dealing with socio-economic and political crises, particularly in Swaziland, Zimbabwe and Lesotho, which remain a threat to regional stability;

• Lack of recognition for care workers in the region, in the wake of the huge burden placed upon them by member States, by failing to provide decent hospital care and access to essential and life saving medicines to a majority of their citizens;

• Increasing incidences of Gender-based Violence in our countries and inadequacy of the justice delivery system to effectively deal with the matter;

• Growing youth unemployment;

• Increasing incidences of child marriages;

• The continued dominance of neo-liberalism and attendant macroeconomic terrorism, that is aided by increasing incidence of Repression and rising Inequality in SADC member states;

• The slow progress towards implementation of the SADC protocol on free movement of the African peoples;

• The continued open collusion with the European Union to mortgage our future and exploitation of resources and people through Economic Partnership Agreements;

• Investment agreements that are now triggering massive Land Grabs in the region;

• Lack of progress in integration of youth and other vulnerable groups in all structures of decision making and implementation;

• The attack on food sovereignty through the take-over of agricultural and food systems by Multi-national Corporations (MNCs); and

• The heightened harassment of ordinary people especially at ports of entry such as the BeitBridge border post and others.

We therefore commit to heighten our levels of solidarity and offer each other maximum support in our campaign to Reclaim SADC for the SADC people’s development.

We assert that SADC resources must be used to truly and primarily benefit the peoples of the region; and we must work tirelessly to destroy the inherited colonial structures, that are largely responsible for the corporate impunity in the region; and the profit driven enclaves of progress, that are not designed to serve the sustainable use of resources and meaningful development in the SADC region and Africa as a whole.

We commit to campaign against corporate impunity, which has its roots in the colonial exploitative structures maintained by leaders in our member states.

We call on SADC member States and Governments to the following:

On Tax Justice and the fight against Illicit Financial Flows

• Implement the recommendations of the High Level Panel of Experts’ report on Illicit Financial Outflows in Africa, as adopted by the AU Heads of State and Government Summit in January 2015;

• In particular, Governments in Southern Africa must trace, stop and get back resources from illicit financial flows; and these proceeds should be channelled towards financing social protection programmes at the national level;

• The implementation of taxation regimes that are consistent with our call for a SADC-wide basic income grant.

On African Solidarity, Migration and People’s Movement

• Formally recognise that the issue of Afrophobia/xenophobia is a continental challenge that needs a collective approach, including dealing with all country-based challenges, and ensuring that individual Governments take full responsibility for this phenomenon;

• Recognize that Afrophobia/xenophobia attacks are a consequence of the failure of capitalist development model on the region and that another approach is needed to enhance regional co-operation based on solidarity;

• Adopt policies at the national level that ensure migrants’ access to human rights and basic public services; and

• Adopt and implement policies facilitating the free movement of people across borders in the SADC region.

On Governance, Democracy and Human Rights

• Deal decisively by ensuring that all member States strictly adhere to the promotion of human rights, good governance, the rule of law, as well as guaranteeing the safety and protection of Human Rights Defenders, as they carry out their legitimate duties in the region;

• Promote the existence of plural political systems, particularly multi-party and participatory democracy, where diversity is tolerated and citizens freely organise processes that are based on mass mobilisation and freedom to voice alternatives without fear of victimisation;

• Reinstate the SADC Tribunal and work towards the establishment of a Regional Court of Justice; and

• Urgently facilitate, through the on-going SADC mediation process, political reforms, including security sector reforms and participation of citizens in the Kingdom of Lesotho dialogue process

• The intensification of the investigation into the disappearance of Itai Dzamara by the Zimbabwe government.

On Cross boarder traders, small scale farmers

• Governments must extend the Simplified Trade Regime (STR) implemented in COMESA, to the SADC region with a focus on the removal of Non-Tariff Barriers, Empowerment of Women, and simplified paperwork;

• Governments must put in place pre-requisite infrastructure to support production, agro-processing & value addition of agricultural produce and promote market access in regional and other export markets; and

• Governments must ensure that trade policies protect women small-scale farmers and cross-border traders and that they need to be gender-sensitive, in line with SADC gender declarations.

On Trade Negotiations and Agreements

• Reject the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) with the European Union and show leadership in the interest of the SADC people in all regional and multilateral trade negotiations.

On Climate Change

• That Governments recognize the failure of neo-liberal approach to addressing climate change, such as carbon market and thus take the stand at the COP21 summit not to engage transnational and corporate as being the solution to climate change;

• That Governments depart from the neo-liberal approach, which recognizes nature only as a commodity and shift the paradigm so that nature rights are being recognized and that nature be considered as a subject and not an object; and

• That Governments make the climate change issue and all its collaterals as a priority in all multi-lateral and bi-lateral agreements; and that the protection of local communities and indigenous rights are absolute priorities in those agreements.

On Agricultural Finance, Seed Sovereignty and Climate Justice

• Promote the use of indigenous seeds which are resistant to climate change effects;

• Review trade policies and prioritize locally produced goods, while prohibiting the dumping of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) in the region;

• Establish land and agricultural banks which offer loans to farmers at zero interest rates, in addition to introducing result-oriented State subsidies, for small-scale producers;

• Stop facilitating “land grabs” by international and domestic corporates and individuals, as they are creating landlessness, conflicts and loss of livelihoods; and

• Adhere to the AU Maputo Declaration of 2003, by allocating 10% of the national budget towards agriculture.

We, the peoples of SADC, continue to be strengthened by our sharing of experiences and development aspirations, within this SAPSN People’s Summit and the resolve to grow people-to-people solidarity.

We commit ourselves to the struggle by all means necessary.

VIVA the Peoples of SADC! Viva the solidarity and rights of the Peoples of SADC! Viva the truly Peoplecentred and People-responsive SADC!