Regional leaders converge in Durban to tackle migration and security crisis

SADC Summit Opens in Durban With Migration and Security Top of Agenda

The Durban International Convention Centre is hosting the Southern African Development Community summit Monday morning, drawing heads of state and government from across the region for what member countries are framing as a critical moment for coordinated regional action. President Cyril Ramaphosa is scheduled to address the gathering and will assume the chairmanship of the bloc through August of next year. African Union Commission chairperson Mahmoud Ali Youssouf is also expected to speak.

Migration sits at the centre of the agenda. South Africa and other member states have placed the issue prominently before the summit, with Ramaphosa calling on the region to address the underlying conditions that drive people to leave their countries. That framing positions migration not as a border management problem alone, but as a symptom of deeper economic and social pressures across SADC territories.

Several member countries arrived in Durban viewing the summit as an opportunity to move beyond fragmented national responses toward something more durable.

Lesotho’s Foreign Affairs Minister Limpho Tau put the collective case plainly. “Even at the summit itself, South Africa will actually get an opportunity to lay its perspective when it comes to migration,” she said. “So we really appreciate that and we are happy South Africa has an opportunity based on that. We are happy that it actually tabled it.” She went further, adding, “We are happy that we can even consult and engage on the issue of migration not only as South Africa but as a region because we deemed that as a collective responsibility for us.”

Peace and security concerns are also on the table, continuing to shape the region’s stability and development prospects alongside the migration question.

Meanwhile, on the streets of Durban, the security operation surrounding the summit is running at an elevated pitch. Anti-undocumented immigration activist groups, including March and March and Operation Dudula, have announced plans to march through the city during the gathering to voice concerns about undocumented foreign nationals directly to regional leaders. KwaZulu-Natal Police Spokesperson Robert Netshiunda confirmed that police will manage the demonstration by restricting protesters to Speaker’s Corner near South Beach, keeping the march well clear of the Durban ICC precinct.

Netshiunda was direct about the operational logic. “Their message will still be heard and police will escort them from the start to the Speaker’s Corner and ensure that they disperse peacefully,” he said. “It’s not that we don’t want them to march; we’ll allow them to march.” On the security perimeter itself, he added, “We are going to escort them; we just can’t let them close to the red zone because that’s where the heads of state are. We control the roads, we control the airspace, we control everything around the red zone because we can’t leave anything to chance.”

The arrangement is a practical balancing act: protect the right to demonstrate while keeping the convention centre precinct secure enough for leaders to conduct deliberations. Police have committed to escorting the groups throughout the march and ensuring orderly dispersal at Speaker’s Corner.

Whether the summit’s discussions on migration produce a concrete regional framework, or remain at the level of dialogue, will be the measure that member states are watching most closely when leaders depart Durban.