This is very interesting that they've planned a closed session on these very sensitive issues," Louw-Vaudran said.
"South Africa is conscious of the impact of xenophobia and that there's a certain amount of damage control that will have to be done."
At a briefing ahead of the summit, Foreign Minister Maite Nkoane-Mashabane was at pains to emphasise South Africa's unity with its neighbours after the furore over the attacks on migrant workers.
"Our future is inherently linked to that of the rest of the continent. We are a member of the African family of nations, the AU, and we are fully committed to the success of the institution," she said.