Today, the 25th of October 2026, the Southern African Development Community joins the Government and the people of the Republic of Zimbabwe to commemorate the SADC Anti-Sanctions Day, under the theme Leveraging Regional Integration and Global Partnerships for Economic Transformation Beyond Illegal Sanctions.
Today, our Regional Economic Community sends one message to the world: we seek the complete and unconditional lifting of sanctions on our sister nation, the Republic of Zimbabwe.
This year’s commemoration is especially important as we are increasingly aware of the global geopolitical and economic challenges of recent years and their significant effects on our national and regional economies. The sanctions imposed on the Republic of Zimbabwe therefore create an additional burden for its people amid an already challenging continental and international environment.
We therefore appreciate the theme guiding this year’s commemoration of SADC Anti-Sanctions Day, which underscores the need to transform the global approach to the current sanctions against Zimbabwe and fully liberate the country and its people, enabling them to achieve their rightful socio-economic fulfilment.
SADC remains resolute in calling for the complete lifting of sanctions against the Republic of Zimbabwe and will pursue this cause with the utmost commitment, in the true spirit of regionalism and collective regional integration. Such integration should support all Member States in achieving prosperity, particularly since sanctions against Zimbabwe are essentially sanctions against the entire SADC region.
We reiterate our wish for those countries that have imposed illegal sanctions on Zimbabwe to give pride of place to dialogue in order to secure the lifting of these unwarranted sanctions. More importantly, they must do what is right for the seventeen million people who make up the Zimbabwean nation. The time has indeed come for the world to give Zimbabwe complete freedom from sanctions—and, with it, the chance to transform its people’s lives and livelihoods socially and economically.
I wish you all humble reflections and a blessed commemoration of the SADC Anti-Sanctions Day
25 OCTOBER 2026
