SADC DEPLOYS EMERGENCY RESPONSE TEAM TO MOZAMBIQUE AND SOUTH AFRICA

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) has deployed its Emergency Response Team (ERT) to support the Governments of Mozambique and South Africa, following recent floods and extreme weather conditions that have resulted in loss of lives, destruction of infrastructure and disruptions of essential services. 

The deployment of the SADC ERT, as part of the SADC’s regional disaster response mechanisms, is aimed at supporting Government-led efforts in Member States that have been severely affected by disasters. 

The SADC ERT will be on the ground in Mozambique and South Africa from 23 to 31 January 2026, providing support to national authorities in emergency response, early recovery operations, continuous monitoring of the situation and consolidation of a regional humanitarian appeal, based on the evolving impact assessments.

Prolonged rainfall has resulted in river overflows, dam spillages, flash floods, and flooding of low-lying areas across several Member States, including Eswatini, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, with Mozambique and South Africa experiencing the most severe impacts and requiring humanitarian assistance. As of October 2025, over one million people have been affected by the floods across several Member States, with some communities displaced and some people losing their lives, underscoring the urgent need for a coordinated regional response to support affected communities.

In Mozambique, flooding has impacted central and southern regions, notably Gaza, Maputo, Sofala, Inhambane, and Manica provinces, prompting the Government of Mozambique to declare a Red Alert on 16 January 2026 and has appealed for humanitarian assistance. In South Africa, the Government declared a State of National Disaster on 18 January 2026 following severe flooding in Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces.

In response to the situation in the SADC region the SADC Humanitarian and Emergency Operations Centre (SHOC), which is mandated to coordinate regional disaster preparedness, response and early recovery, is working closely with the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), national disaster response and coordination structures, international partners such as the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), and the United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) mechanism, to support Government-led national response efforts.

The SADC ERT will support the Governments of Mozambique and South Africa by establishing a clear and comprehensive understanding of the humanitarian situation, response capacities, and priority needs, and to advise on how SADC can best provide targeted regional response. These efforts aim to ensure an effective, coordinated and timely humanitarian response to the flood impacts affecting the country