Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe was in South Africa Monday for meetings with members of the Sadc Troika over the deepending political crisis in the kingdom of Lesotho.
Mr. Mugabe, who assumed the rotational Sadc chairmanship last month, met with Presidents Jacob Zuma of South Africa and Ian Khama of Botswana.
The meeting sought to broker peace and stability between Prime Minister Thomas Thabane and his deputy Motehetjoa Metsing, whom he accuses of attempting a military coup last month.
The situation appeared to have been resolved briefly when Sadc intervened, but took a turn for the worst when the Thabane failed to reconvene parliament as agreed under regional terms.
Mugabe was himself a target of Sadc intervention from 2008 through last year when Zimbabwe was facing serious political upheavals.
Political analyst Mlamuli Nkomo said Sadc has for years been involved in trying to resolve political differences in a number of countries with just one view; maintaining the status quo.
"What stands out is Sadc's inability to take into account the needs of the people or to use democratic principles in solving political issues," said Nkomo.
"It would seem that Sadc is only interested in maintaining the status quo; that is maintaining the same leaders and rulers that are being rejected by the people."