SADC to restructure defence body

Leaders of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) are to meet in Namibia next month to discuss proposals to restructure SADC's controversial defence organ, currently chaired by President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, SAPA reported. This could see Mugabe ousted as chairman of the organ, the news agency said. South Africa's Foreign Affairs Deputy Director-General Welile Nhlapo told reporters in Pretoria on Wednesday there was general agreement for change so the organ could be led by a head of state on an annual revolving basis. "The emerging consensus is that you will have the organ headed by a head of state, it is critical. He will also function within the framework of a troika," Nhlapo said. The Organ for Politics, Defence and Security is the body that should be responsible for co-ordinating a common SADC response to conflicts, such as those in Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). But it was never made fully operational because of a difference of opinion on whether it was meant to be fully independent or subordinate to the SADC summit structure. Zimbabwe maintained that the organ should function independently - a stand which led to tension between Mugabe and former South African president Nelson Mandela.