By Boemo Sekgoma

SADC PF Secretary General

At the end of a three-day joint virtual session of the Regional Women’s Parliamentary Caucus (RWPC) and Standing Committees of the SADC Parliamentary Forum (SADC PF) from 15^th to 17^th November 2021 in view of validating the SADC Model Law on Gender Based Violence, the Secretary General had this to say:

“On behalf of the SADC-PF and indeed on my own behalf, I wish to thank you for your frank and earnest participation to the deliberations which have taken place over the last 3 days.

In this respect, I wish to give context and perspective from the standpoint of the Secretariat to mark the end of the Joint Session. The end of this Session indeed marks a new beginning as we trigger the recommendation of the GBV Model Law to the Plenary Assembly.

As you are aware, the Forum is a platform for parliamentary dialogue on issues of mutual interest. It is bound by its Constitutive documents, including the Constitution and its Strategic Plan which upholds democratic principles such as the rule of law, equality of treatment of everyone before the law, non-discrimination as well as parliamentary sovereignty.

As we move forward, it is thus the role of the Secretariat and other Forum organs to infuse democratic principles and core values of the SADC-PF into its initiatives. I wish to reiterate to Honourable Members and participants that the Secretariat will always be at your service to guide deliberations and assist with information on the core values and guiding principles of the organisation, with respect for human rights and non-discrimination being well-known tenets of the Forum. In addition, the Secretariat is bound to observe the principle of equality of States, which is innate to every international organisation, by treating each Member State equally and allowing voices to be equitably heard.

For the SADC Model Law on GBV, we had the opportunity to sample several core values of the organisation which permeate the text of the Model Law, and thereupon the Model Law will be approved by the Plenary Assembly in the days to come.

At this juncture, I wish to emphasize that the Forum is the only SADC organ which includes Members of both the Government and the Opposition in its Standing Committees and the Plenary Assembly. Diverging views are thus not only expected, but most welcome as being expressions of the sacrosanct notion of parliamentary democracy. 

As for all Model Laws and minimum standards developed under the auspices of the Forum, diverging views are resolved through consensus with the common understanding that the SADC stands for an overarching regional interest which will necessarily have some differences with each and every domestic policy currently in place.

At SADC-PF level, we agree to disagree, and ultimately it is the common belief that it is the region which has to advance as a group. It is from this standpoint that since last year, the Plenary Assembly of the SADC-PF has developed an Oath of Adherence to the Forum to promote the belief in the SADC identity and in core values and guiding principles which transcend national identities.

In other words, the Forum motivates all MPs sitting in the Plenary Assembly to consider the interests of the region, in addition of course to considering the interests of each and every Member State.

After all, the SADC-PF is a means to achieve regional parliamentary integration, and regionalism is always a matter of consensus, compromise and adaptation, bearing in mind the need to respect sovereignty of each and every Member State as we move forward.

While we take note that certain amendments have been made to the Model Law, I wish to give reassurances that the Model Law is a guiding instrument and not a mandatory benchmark. Hence use of the word “shall” in a guiding instrument will not make provisions mandatory in any way.

Indeed, I wish to emphasize to this august Joint Session that the adoption of the SADC Model Law on GBV will not preclude further discussions and adaptations at domestication stage.

The Model Law is designed to persuade and not dictate.  It is indeed due to this important domestication step that the Forum has set up dedicated structures in the form of the Regional Parliamentary Model Laws Oversight Committee (RPMLOC) and the Committee of Clerks/Secretaries General to oversee information and evidence gathering.

It is also why during the extensive consultations conducted, agreements in principle have been made with partners to develop advocacy content in the form of manuals, videos etc to assist MPs to facilitate the domestication process and spearhead positive GBV legislation in line with the national context prevailing in each Member State.

Therefore, I would like to thank Honourable Members for participating actively during this Joint Session. The Forum as a regional organisation is mindful that GBV will not end overnight or in a single day.

However, it is at this stage a useful addition to the legal armada which exists at regional level and it constitutes a step in the right direction for GBV complainants across SADC. 

With these words, I wish to commend this august Joint Session’s recommendation of the SADC Model Law to the 50^th Plenary Assembly.

I sincerely applaud the work of Honourable Members present over the last 3 days in making history for the Forum.

Long live parliamentary democracy in the SADC region”!