The move by the 16-nation Southern African Development Community, many years after the dramatic demise of the region's court, has raised many questions.

SADC seems to be trying to revive its Tribunal, which was suspended by member states in 2011 after it had ruled that Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's seizure of white farms was illegal.

This move by the 16-nation Southern African Development Community, many years after the dramatic demise of the region's court, has raised many questions.

Will the Tribunal be revived at all, or is this effort just political expediency -- perhaps designed to appease important constituencies? And if it is restored, will it be to its original potent form, or just as a toothless tiger?

At least one organisation, the Southern African Agri Initiative (Saai) -- an influential agricultural interest network of regional farmers -- is optimistic.

"Saai welcomes the news that the Southern African Development Community (SADC) has committed itself to the long-awaited revival of the SADC Tribunal," said the organisation, responding to an article in Zimbabwe's Herald Online newspaper in June.

The paper said at the time that the Committee of Ministers of Justice and Attorneys General of SADC would meet virtually on 11 July...