During the early morning hours of 6 September, a news item shook the international community saying that President Robert Gabriel Mugabe, known affectionately as “Gushungo”, had passed away at the age of 95.

How long will it take before SADC has the means and the will to remove rulers who have either been defeated in an election or who refuse to leave at the end of their terms? Will what has happened in West Africa in the case of The Gambia help persuade SADC to move towards more effective interventions to remove dictators and other illegitimate rulers?