M.A. (Politics) / This study examines the four democratic elections that have been held in Malawi, Zambia, South Africa and Madagascar in order to establish whether there has been an improvement in the quality of elections over the years, to ascertain the challenges faced in each country, and to determine the possible implications for the future of democracy in each of the countries. The criteria according to which elections are assessed in the SADC region guided the investigation. These are the PEMMO standards which, in contrast to a reliance on generalised terms such as „free and fair‟, offer practical guidelines on establishing progress in the electoral process, as well as the SADC-PF and SADC standards. The discussion has been structured along the lines of the three phases of the electoral process, namely, the pre-election period, the election period, and the post-election period, each with its own set of indicators to be met. The study finds that despite the minimal achievements, the overall management of the electoral processes in Malawi, Zambia and Madagascar has stagnated over the years. The institutional and legal framework is one of the major areas that need improvement in Malawi. The Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC), which was charged with the responsibility of organising the various elections, experienced enormous difficulties in establishing a level playing field as well as in exercising its full mandate. Other problem areas include the voter registration process, the use of state resources by the incumbent party, and the acceptance of the electoral outcome by some opposition leaders. In the case of Zambia, the procedure for the appointment of members of the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) undermines the independence of this body. The other difficult aspects (as in the case of Malawi) are the lack of public funding of political parties, the use of state resources by the ruling party, biased media access and coverage for the ruling party, and the acceptance of election results by some of the opposition parties. The inadequate training of the electoral staff has also been a major contributing factor to these challenges. In contrast to the abovementioned countries (including South Africa), the legal framework in Madagascar did not provide for the establishment of an independent electoral management body. Consequently, the various elections resulted in recurrent shortcomings in the voter registration process, the use of state resources, and the management of election material. However, despite the above bleak picture regarding the elections in Malawi, Zambia and Madagascar, there were some marginal improvements in the conduct of the elections over the years. The polling and counting exercises in Malawi, for instance, proved to be generally well-managed by the fourth election. Similarly, the Zambian elections over the years have improved in terms of the voter registration process, and the decrease in acts of political violence and intimidation. In Madagascar the campaign periods were generally peaceful. However, the government has since been overthrown in a coup d’état in 2009. In contrast with Malawi, Zambia and Madagascar, the four elections in South Africa have been of a high standard, notwithstanding the few flaws, particularly during the first elections in 1994. The independence and credibility of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) over the years, as well as its continuation of members for all the elections, have among other reasons, contributed to the high standard of elections in the country. The continuous significant flaws in the elections in Malawi and Zambia pose a serious problem for the advancement of democracy in these countries. In other words, if the basic requirements of democracy – that is "free and fair" elections – are not met it does not bode well for the democratic future of these countries. The legitimacy of the elections and that of the resultant governments can be undermined, as has since been illustrated in the instance of Madagascar. The case of South Africa demonstrates the direct link between the "freeness" and "fairness" of elections and the extent to which its political system is labelled a democracy.

Magister Legum - LLM / This study focussed on the transformation of the institutions of local government from deconcentration, delegation to devolution. This transformation can be looked at starting with the institutions inherited from the colonial era, which started after the Berlin Conference of 1884, which divided Africa among the western powers. Then the transformation, which took place immediately after independence; that is the period of 1960s, the changes made in the 1980s and finally the transformation taking place following the multiparty democracy in the 1990s. The study looked at decentralisation during the colonial period; decentralisation after independence, with a particular focus on the institutions under a single party system; transformation of local government under multiparty system. It also examined the challenges facing decentralisation in the SADC region. / South Africa

Magister Legum - LLM / South Africa

Magister Legum - LLM / This research paper, therefore, will focus on (i) the challenges and opportunities presented by hard infrastructure and (ii) the potential scope of public-private partnerships in alleviating such challenges and responding to the opportunities. This research paper, as a secondary objective, cautions against missing an opportunity to advocate for the deployment of capital in a manner that benefits the region and gives sufficient returns to investors. Simply put, such a failure has the potential to derail the regional integration project in Southern Africa. This would translate to consumers and market participants being subjected to a finite market, less competition, higher prices and less innovation. In responding to the above analyses, this research paper undertakes a thorough study of the current legal framework and practices in SADC which allow for participation of the private sector in public-private partnerships. In this regard, this research paper will consider which between institutionalisation or the ad hoc participation of the private sector in public-private partnerships is a viable policy goal.

This mini-dissertation examines the role of the United Nations, the African Union and the three relevant sub-regional organizations namely the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) and the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) in the post-conflict period in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). These organizations played a threefold role based on the monitoring, intervention and assistance regarding the reconciliation and reconstruction process. To some extent, their strategies contributed to activate the reconstruction and the reconciliation process after nearly a decade of instability caused by the war in the country. However, in spite of the combined efforts of these actors, the conflict persists and continues to take innocent human lives, leaving the survivors affected by hostilities and violations of human rights that they have experienced. The study sets out the political situation in the DRC during the conflict, then analyzes the resurgence of the conflict beyond the ceasefire and later explores the role played by each actor relatively to its mandate after the free and democratic elections of 2006, which mark the starting point of the reconstruction and reconciliation process. In analyzing these interventions, the study refers to the protocols, objectives and results of each organization. From this perspective, the study argues that each conflict has its realities and does not necessarily comply with the standard solution (negotiations and military interventions). As for the DRC, this approach has not provided the expected solutions. The nature of the conflict, the history of the DRC and the Congolese people is new to the different organizations and impacts considerably on the way they perceive and deal with the situation. The study found that each of the international organizations is mandated, in one way or another, to deal with issues such as those rose in the DRC post-conflict period namely rapes, outrageous criminality. Yet, none of the organizations reached the results envisaged by its statute. Taking the best from each other, these organizations need complementarity when addressing the reconstruction and reconciliation in the DRC post-conflict period. Therefore, these multiple agents fit together to address the challenges in the DRC post-conflict period. The study also emphasizes that initiation of tolerance showed through civilian reconciliation constitutes a prerequisite to any possible and durable peace in the country. / Dissertation (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Centre for Human Rights / unrestricted

The aim of this study is an examination of the Southern African Development Community's (SADC) conflict resolution role (through multilateral mediation) in the Zimbabwe conflict and to determine how this role impacted on the development and outcome of the conflict. The underlying problem is not so much the intervention of SADC but the process and impact thereof. The primary research question is: Would the events in Zimbabwe and the outcome of the 'Zimbabwe-problem' have been substantially different without the involvement and conflict resolution role of SADC? This question is underpinned by two subsidiary questions: Firstly, what was the conflict management role, including that of conflict resolution, that SADC played? Secondly, did this role contribute to a positive outcome by overcoming limitations and how? In response the argument is that SADC, despite institutional limitations and operational constraints, played a positive role that prevented an escalation of the conflict and that contributed to a de-escalation thereof on account of its mediation. The study includes a framework for analysis to explore the conflict resolution role of a regional organisation in intra-state (domestic) conflict; a contextualisation of SADC's role with reference to the nature, scope and development of the 'Zimbabweproblem' as conflict; the analysis of the conflict resolution role through SADC mediation; and an evaluation of key findings as a basis for policy and research recommendations. The study is demarcated in conceptual, temporal and geopolitical terms. At a conceptual level, the key variables are conflict, conflict resolution and the role of international (regional) organisations. In terms of time-frame, the study covers the period from 2002 to 2014. The commencement year of 2002 is based on the constitutional and humanitarian crises that emerged and necessitated SADC intervention. The concluding year of 2014 marks the first full year since the end of the Global Political Agreement's (GPA) Government of National Unity (GNU) and allows for a retrospective assessment of the outcome(s) of SADC's role. The noncomparative case study focuses on Zimbabwe as the national-level and SADC as the regional-level (Southern African) units of analysis. The research design is that of a historical case study and entails a critical literature-documentary analysis. Although SADC's initial response and involvement was delayed and limited, it developed into a concerted mediation effort and a dedicated conflict resolution role. This role, despite limitations and constraints, overcame challenges and produced a settlement agreement. It is evident that events in Zimbabwe and the outcome of the 'Zimbabwe-problem' would have been substantially different and undeniably more detrimental (even disastrous) not only to Zimbabwe but also to the Southern African region without SADC's involvement and conflict resolution role. Its intervention contributed to the de-escalation of the conflict and to acceptable levels of stability (unstable peace) in the region and within the country. A retrospective and diachronic assessment confirms a relative improvement in political, economic and social conditions (if juxtaposed with the first decade of the 2000s. This, however, does not imply a termination of the conflict and the existence of stable peace. The residue of dissatisfaction produced by the GPA; the prevailing electoral and constitutional contestation; and the authoritarian and repressive regime trends still apparent in Zimbabwe attest to continued latent and manifest conflict. This confirms the tenet that intra-state conflict is never really terminated, seldom resolved but only managed in an effective manner to produce a minimally acceptable outcome of unstable peace. / Mini Dissertation (M Security Studies)--University of Pretoria, 2017. / Political Sciences / M Security Studies / Unrestricted

The study assesses Adler and Barnett's (1998) three tier framework with a specific focus on the mature phase of their framework that emphasises mutual trust and collective identity as necessary conditions for establishing a security community. Adler and Barnett's (1998) three tier framework is applied to SADC's efforts of establishing a security community in the Southern African region. The study explores the reasoning behind SADC's creation with a specific focus on regional integration and how it defines its security architecture and political rationale. By focusing on regional integration and defining SADC's security architecture and political rationale the study outlines how the organisation is making efforts of establishing a security community. This is indicated by describing how SADC has attained the nascent and ascendant phase through its various initiatives and programmes such as the RISDP, SIPO I and II and MDP which provide evidence that there is a sense of cooperation and coordination among SADC member states. The study argues that SADC has reached the nascent and ascendant phase although the regional organisation has not yet progressed to the mature phase of establishing itself as a security community. The study critiques Adler and Barnett's (1998) third phase, which stresses the importance of two necessary conditions of mutual trust and collective identity. Mutual trust and collective identity are evaluated and analysed in respect of whether or not they are relatable and recognised within SADC as a possible emerging security community. The main finding of the study is that mutual trust and collective identity are not recognised in SADC in the manner in which Adler and Barnett (1998) describe them in their three tier framework. However SADC does make efforts to strengthen mutual trust, coordinate strategies and policies to develop collective identity, rather its efforts are not sufficient to make it a security community in the manner Adler and Barnett (1998) understand it. SADC continues to uphold a strict adherence to sovereignty, and is also characterised by domestic instability, lack of common norms and interests among member states and these are major problems for the organisation to create a security community. / Mini Dissertation (M Security Studies)--University of Pretoria, 2017. / Political Sciences / M Security Studies / Unrestricted

The current implementation of a free trade area in SADC has given rise to concerns that the present location of industry in the region will be adversely affected. Specifically, many of the smaller and less-developed countries fear that this change will result in a loss of their industry towards the more developed members, and particularly towards South Africa. This study uses the framework of the new economic geography to address these concerns. The new economic geography is a body of theory that has arisen in the last decade and allows for a dynamic analysis of the process of regional integration. Studies of such dynamic effects in the developing country context are exceedingly scarce, and particularly so in southern Africa. Another area of little research is in the comparison of the evolving industrial structure of different regional blocs. Thus, in response to this gap in the literature and in order to address the concerns of polarisation of industry within the SADC region, a two-pronged empirical approach is taken. The study first conducts a review of the spatial distribution of industry within SADC from 1970 to 1999. This is achieved through the calculation and examination of industrial locational Gini coefficients, measuring the relative degree of concentration of 28 ISIC (rev 2) industries for the years 1970, 1980, 1985, 1990, 1995 and 1999. Secondly, an empirical comparison is conducted with other blocs that are in the process of deepening regional integration, namely the European Union and Mercosur. Again, this is done through the calculation of locational Gini coefficients for individual industries for all three blocs at five year intervals from 1980 to 1995, and then for 1999. The average level of concentration within SADC is found to increase steadily from 1970 to 1990. Between 1990 and 1995, the level of concentration increases further, but at a lower rate, and, by 1999 industry begins to disperse. The Gini coefficient is a relative measure, and thus does not measure the absolute level of concentration. Thus, much of the increase in concentration seen is towards peripheral countries. To further interpret the Gini, the changes in concentration are compared to the absolute changes in manufacturing employment in South Africa. From this analysis, eight of the 28 industries analysed show particular tendencies to concentrate in the periphery. These are beverages, textiles, wearing apparel, paper and products, rubber products, other non-metallic mineral products, transport equipment, and professional and scientific equipment. Likewise, another six industries become more concentrated in South Africa over this time, namely food products, printing and publishing, industrial chemicals, petroleum refineries, miscellaneous petroleum and coal products, and electrical machinery. According to the Gini coefficient, the tobacco industry is by far the most concentrated, while the wood products industry is the most dispersed. It is also found that scale-intensive industries tend to be among the most concentrated. In the cross-bloc comparison, Mercosur has the lowest level of aggregate concentration with an average Gini of 0.08 in 1999. This compares with Ginis of 0.28 for the EU, and 0.22 for SADC. The EU has the largest increase in concentration over the period, while the concentration in Mercosur falls during the 1980s, increases in the mid 1990s and then falls again by 1999. A common theme, however, between all three blocs is a trend towards dispersion in the late 1990s. This is particularly apparent in SADC and Mercosur where the Gini decreases in value, while in the EU, the Gini only increases marginally in this period. Other studies of the EU have indicated that industry was starting to disperse at this time. This finding would be more apparent at a greater level of industrial disaggregation. The following industries are found to be agglomerated above the average level in all three blocs: tobacco, miscellaneous petroleum and coal products, and pottery china and earthenware. Conversely, transport equipment, paper and products, machinery except electrical, plastic products, rubber products, and fabricated metal products tend to be more dispersed across all three. Perhaps more interesting is that there appears to be some commonality between industries that become more agglomerated across all three blocs, while industries that dispersed tend to be region specific. The industries that show universal agglomeration tendencies are the highly sensitive wearing apparel and textiles industries, in addition to industrial chemicals, printing and publishing, iron and steel, and plastic products. In relation to SADC, the first two of these industries show an increased concentration in the periphery, as in the EU, while the remaining industries show tendencies to concentrate in the core. The new economic geography predicts that, as the presently high levels of transport costs begin to fall in SADC, industry will tend to concentrate in the core. However, the results of this study indicate that the effect on manufacturing is, to a large extent, sector specific, with some manufacturing industries concentrating in the core and others in the periphery. The study therefore concludes that the mass polarization of industry from the smaller countries in SADC towards South Africa is unlikely to occur with the further reduction in trade costs. Although certain industries may be attracted towards the core, the high degree of wage disparity in the region and present trade concessions from developed markets overseas towards the peripheral countries, will make these countries an attractive location, particularly for export orientated firms. Two main policy recommendations result from the study. Firstly, individual countries in SADC need to promote those industries that show concentration tendencies in their country. Secondly, in order for the periphery to maximize their gain from the free trade area, transport costs within the region need to be reduced rapidly and effectively.

The re-acceptance of South Africa into the international community has cleared the path for the closer integration of South Africa with its neighbours in a broader southern African regional union. In particular, the countries of the Southern African Development Community {SADC), which South Africa joined in August 1994, have committed themselves to the formation of a free trade area (FTA) over an eight-year period. The most likely impediment to this process is the perception of a highly unequal distribution of the economic gains and losses of such an arrangement. This reflects the particular context of SADC: one of a comparatively undeveloped region, dominated by a relatively large, more industrially advanced country, which is itself small by international standards. The essential question with which this study is concerned, therefore, is whether, despite the existing inequalities in the region, a FTA among SADC members could be mutually beneficial to South Africa and its partners. The thesis applies orthodox and new trade theory to the analysis of economic integration among unequal partners. Using the theoretical analysis, and with reference to empirical studies of such experience elsewhere in the world, it attempts to provide an assessment of the existing body of literature on the possible effects of a SADC FTA. In the light of this discussion, and from its own preliminary empirical analysis of the possible pattern of inter-sectoral versus intra-sectoral specialisation which may result on union, the study suggests ways in which a fuller evaluation of the welfare implications of a southern African FTA may be achieved. The thesis argues that the orthodox theory based on perfect competition provides an insufficient framework for the analysis of the likely effects of a SADC FT A. It finds that, firstly, in an alternative analytical framework which retains the assumption of perfect competition, there may be other criteria for judging the success of a regional union that are neglected by orthodoxy, particularly in the case of developing countries. Secondly, the new trade theory based on imperfect competition and product differentiation provides useful insights into the possible effects of a regional union among countries at unequal levels of development. The formal extension of this body of literature to the theory of economic integration is clearly called for. It is found, however, that neither orthodox customs union theory, nor its suggested alternatives and extensions, enable one to conclude, a priori, that the formation of a FTA in the southern African region could not be beneficial to both South Africa and its smaller partners. Further, the present empirical studies on SADC do not take account of the full range of factors necessary for a complete welfare assessment of the possible effects. Since the outcome of integration depends on the empirical circumstances of the particular case, and since the information necessary for a comprehensive welfare evaluation is not currently available, the study concludes that the countries of the region have committed themselves to a FTA without any definite knowledge of its likely effects.

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) region, like most parts of the African continent, faces significant modern energy services access challenges. It is estimated that less than 45% of the SADC region’s populace have access to reliable modern energy forms and the situation is worse in rural areas where access is approximately 30%. Poor energy security is exacerbated by electricity power cuts and load shedding in almost all of the member states in the region. With the advent of battery storage, all forms of green energy have the potential to contribute to the shortfall in the supply of peaking power required to meet the daily (morning and evenings) and seasonal (winter) peaks when most power is required on the grid network. The region is endowed with vast green (renewables/low carbon or clean) energy resources. The purpose of this study is to expand the empirical body of research and knowledge on factors that contribute to widespread access success to green energy in the SADC region. Investments into green energy resources require an understanding of the unique characteristics of the energy sector in the region. In order to achieve this, a conceptual theoretical model was developed and tested empirically. Factors that influence green energy access success were identified through literature reviews and discussions with energy practitioners. All identified factors were then operationalised by carefully defining them in the context of the study. In order to test the proposed theoretical model and the hypothesised relationships, a structured questionnaire was developed and sent to energy practitioners from various sections of the energy sector in the region. STATISTICA 12 was employed to analyse relationships between variables and responses between identified groups. Pearson Product Moment Correlation (Pearson r) was employed to determine correlations between variables. Conclusions about hypotheses six (6) to fifteen (15) were made based on correlations between variables. T-tests were employed to make inferences about the views of various categories of respondents with regard to the twelve (12) identified variables. Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) and Analysis of variance (ANOVA) examined associations between the dependent and independent variables with the identified categories of respondents and conclusions about hypotheses one (1) to five (5) and sixteen (16) were also made. The study finds that policy and the regulatory environment are still the main driving force behind energy access in the region. Power generation is managed by authorities’ power utility companies. Unbundling of power utilities supported by new energy business and operating models to accommodate mini and off grid power plants is found to be a key to green energy access in the region. The energy market is transforming in favour of independent power producers (IPPs) and consumers will significantly influence energy access decisions in the future. Green energy power storage to overcome intermittency will feature prominently in the success of green energy access in the region. Widespread access success to green energy will be attained when green energy access is reliable, affordable, efficient, and socially acceptable, meet the demand and reduces environmental pollution. The study recommends that strategic green energy planning must incorporate green energy infrastructure development, projects finance and human capacity development as priorities amongst SADC region’s member countries. Regional energy access enabling institutions must be strengthened; energy policies implemented with vigour and private sector participation enhanced in an integrated energy market.