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SADC Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) System
The SADC electronic settlement system was launched in four Member States of the
Common Monetary Area (South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho and Swaziland) in July 2013
to effect cross-border payments instead of using the correspondent bank payment system,
initially for high value payments, and gradually rolled out later to all SADC Member
States. The SADC Real Time Gross Settlement System (SADC-RTGS), then called the
SADC Integrated Regional Electronic Settlement System (SIRESS), is an electronic cross-
border funds transfer system that facilitates settlement of funds within the SADC
region, in real-time. All Member States except Comoros are participating in the SADC-
RTGS and a total of 85 banks (central banks and commercial banks) are also participating
in the system. The SADC-RTGS has enabled Member States to settle payments
among themselves in real-time, when previously it took several days to process cross-
border transactions.

The 33rd SADC Summit was held in Lilongwe, Malawi on 17-18 August 2013-2014
2013, hosted and chaired by President Joyce Hilda Banda.
Regional Infrastructure Development
The Summit commended Mozambique for successfully organising and
hosting the SADC Regional Infrastructure Investment Conference in June 2013, following
the adoption at the previous Summit in Maputo of the Regional Infrastructure
Development Master Plan Vision 2027 to be implemented over a 15-year period 2013-
2027. The investment conference was organized to support the implementation of 63
trans-boundary infrastructure in an integrated manner in the sectors of Energy, Transport,
Tourism, ICT and Postal, Meteorology, and Water.
Women Representation in Political and Decision­making Positions
The 33 Summit noted progress on the status of women representation
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in political and decision-making positions in SADC Member States,
commending Member States that have achieved high representation of
women in political and decision-making positions, and urged those that
have not yet reached the target of 50:50 to do so by 2015. The SADC
Gender Monitor 2013 released during the Summit shows that women
representation in parliaments in SADC Member States ranges from a high
of more than 40 percent to a low of 10 percent.

Zimbabwe Constitution and Elections
The Summit noted the holding of free and peaceful harmonised elections in Zimbabwe
on 31July 2013, following a constitutional process that resulted in the approval by
referendum of a new Constitution on 22 May 2013, and reiterated its call for the lifting
of all forms of sanctions.

Deployment of SADC Intervention Brigade to DRC
The 33 Summit welcomed the deployment of the SADC Intervention Brigade in the
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DRC to contain the deteriorating security and humanitarian situation in the eastern
part of the country. Summit commended the signing of the Peace, Security and
Cooperation Framework for DRC and the Region in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on 24
February 2013 and the adoption by the UN Security Council of Resolution 2098 of
2013 which provides the mandate for deployment of the Intervention Brigade under
the auspices of MONUSCO.