Luanda, ANGOLA, June 26 - South Africa has expressed support for transformation of SADC Parliamentary Forum into a regional Parliament. ,

 

 The desire was expressed Tuesday by the Speaker of the South African Parliament, Beleka Mbete, underlining that the move is meant to bring the peoples of the Southern African region closer to the point of integration.

 

Speaking at the end of the meeting with his Angolan counterpart, Fernando da Piedade Dias dos Santos, the South African Speaker said that the meeting  deepened bilateral cooperation in the Parliamentary field.

 

Beleka Mbete said that her country has always supported the cause of the transformation of the SADC-PF into a regional Parliament.

 

She recalled that this support comes from her country’s former Statesmen Thabo Mbeki, Jacob Zuma, and now reinforced by President Cyril Ramaphosa.

 

The South African speaker has been in Luanda to attend the 43rd Plenary Assembly of the SADC Parliamentary Forum.

 

The event is running under the motto: "The Role of Parliaments in Deepening SADC Economic Integration through Industrialisation."

 

Almost half of the 14 countries integrating the sub-region have expressed support for the elevation of the Forum to regional Parliament.

 

They are Angola (current chair of the Forum), South Africa, Namibia, Eswatini (former Swaziland), Botswana and Mozambique.

 

Angola took over the chair of SADC Parliamentary Forum for 2016/2018  during the 40th Plenary Assembly held in Harare, Zimbabwe, in first half of November last year.

 

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