The SADC was formerly the Southern African Development Co-ordination Conference (SADCC) which was established in July 1979 to harmonise economic development among the countries in Southern Africa. At the time of formation the SADC group excluded South Africa and had as a key objective the reduction of their economic dependence on South Africa.
The Declaration and Treaty establishing the SADC was signed in Windhoek, Namibia in August 1992. The objectives of the SADC are to :
* Achieve development and economic growth, alleviate poverty, enhance the standard and quality of life of the peoples of Southern Africa and support the socially disadvantaged through regional integration.
* Evolve common political values, systems and institutions.
* Promote and defend peace and security.
* Promote self-sustaining development on the basis of collective self-reliance, and the inter-dependence of member states.
* Achieve complementarity between national and regional strategies and programmes.
* Promote and maximise productive employment and utilisation of the resources of the region.
* Achieve sustainable utilisation of natural resources and effective protection of the environment.
* Strengthen and consolidate the long-standing historical, social and cultural affinities and links among the peoples of the region.
* Following the institution of a full democratic government in South Africa in 1994, that country became the eleventh member of the SADC group in 1994 followed by the 12 member, the island republic of Mauritius which was admitted in 1995. The Democratic Republic of Congo and the Seychelles were admitted in 1997.
The headquarters of the SADC are located in Botswana but each member state has responsibility for overseeing an economic sector. Diplomatic missions of member states also act as SADC diplomatic representatives in a number of key countries in Europe, the Far East, and North America.
The sectoral responsibilities of the SADC members are :
Angola Energy
Botswana Agricultural research, Livestock production and animal disease control
Lesotho Tourism, Environment and Land Management
Malawi Inland Fisheries, Forestry and Wildlife
Mauritius still to be assigned
Mozambique Culture and Information, Transport and Communications
Namibia Marine Fisheries and Resources
South Africa Finance and Investment
Swaziland Human Resources Development
Tanzania Industry and Trade
Zambia Mining, Employment and Labour
Zimbabwe Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources
The working languages of the SADC are English and Portuguese.
