The regional economic community (REC) of the Southern African Development
Community (SADC) compri'ses 15 Southern African countries. The' economic and
political aspects of regional integration in SADC dictate the pace of integration while the
influence of a legal regime for regional integration remains at the periphery. While the
SADC Treaty and its Protocol on Trade are clear about the priority of economic
integration; the full implementation of SADC's economic integration is still yet to be
realised using these legal instruments. Regional economic integration is also a priority
at both continental and global level. The legal instruments applicable at these levels are
those established through the African Union (AU) and the World Trade Organisation
(WTO) respectively. Analysis of these external legal instruments is relevant because
SADC Member States are signatories to agreements establishing these organisations·.
Thus, rules based trade in SADC should be understood from a regional, continental and
global perspective where a community must have well-structured and managed
relations between itself and other legal systems as a necessary condition for its
effectiveness. These structured relations refers to a legal and institutional framework
that defines the relations between community and national laws, spelling out the
modalities for implementing community law in Member States, defines the respective
competencies of the community and Member States and provide rule based systems for
resolution of conflicts.
In setting the scene for an in-depth discussion of the legal and institutional framework
for regional economic integration in SADC, this study presents the history of SADC, its
political and economic characteristics that have shaped the legal aspects of trade within
the region, the continent of Africa and the world at large. Within this context, the
definition of regional integration is presented from a general and international
understanding but ultimately gets narrowed down to what it means for Africa and SADC.
The discussion on the · theories behind regional economic integration gives
understanding to the integration approach employed in the organisation. South Africa's
economic and political leadership is critical in the realisation of economic integration; hence this study acknowledges that without South Africa's full commitment; regional
economic integration will suffer .a setback. Besides the challenge of implementing rules
based trade in SADC, this study also identifies a number of obstacles to SADC regional
economic integration and multiple memberships are identified as a: major stumbling
block. A comparative study of SADC's institutional framework with that of the E1;Jropean
Union· (EU) is undertaken to establish the rationale behind SADC's choice of utilising the
EU model of integration. This study establishes the critical role institutions play in the
implementation of treaty obligations as established by the agreements. The main lesson
from this comparative study is that the EU institutions are allowed to fulfill their
obligations of implementing treaty provisions, while SADC institutions are handicapped.
The future of SADC is presented within the context of a set of recommendations that
identifies the tripartite free trade area (FTA) that includes the East Africa Community
(EAC) and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) as one of
viable legal instrument for deeper integration in SADC and the continent of Africa.
General recommendations are made on the need for reform of rules and principles that
are necessary for the implementation of SADC Treaty regime as well as possible
improvements that are important for the full realisation of regional economic integration. / PhD (Law), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:nwu/oai:dspace.nwu.ac.za:10394/15103 |
| Date | January 2011 |
| Creators | Saurombe, Amos |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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