By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
President Cyril Ramaphosa is in Burundi for the 11th High-Level Segment of the Regional Oversight Mechanism (ROM) of the Peace, Security and Cooperation (PSC) Framework for the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Great Lakes Region.
Deputy President Paul Shipokosa Mashatile, has been sworn in as the country’s acting President.
Mashatile was sworn in by Chief Justice Raymond Zondo on Saturday morning.
He was voted in as the African National Congress (ANC) deputy president in December 2022, making him the candidate to succeed David Mabuza as the country’s second citizen.
The Summit for Heads of State and Government is taking place on Saturday.
According to the Presidency, the PSC Framework, otherwise known as the Addis Ababa Agreement, was signed on 24 February 2013 through an AU/UN-brokered framework aimed at stabilising the DRC.
“At the time, signatories to the agreement included Angola, Burundi, the Central African Republic, the Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Rwanda, South Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.
“In early 2014, Kenya and Sudan became the 12th and 13th signatories of the Framework,” the Presidency said in a statement.
The PSC Framework is aimed at ending recurring cycles of devastating conflict in eastern DRC which impact on stability and development in the Great Lakes region, as well as addressing the root causes of conflict in eastern DRC and the Great Lakes Region.
The Summit takes place against the backdrop of the deteriorating political and security situation in the Eastern DRC caused by a resurgence of the M23 Movement that has led to tensions between the DRC and Rwanda.
Ramaphosa is accompanied by Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Alvin Botes.