Effectiveness of Flexible Land Tenure in Unplanned Urban Areas in the SADC Region: A Case Study of Tanzania and Experiences from Zambia and Namibia

by | Oct 14, 2019 | SADC, SADC 2013

Effectiveness of Flexible Land Tenure in Unplanned Urban Areas in the SADC Region: A Case Study of Tanzania and Experiences from Zambia and Namibia

Authors Kennedy Gastorn

ISSN: 2026-8556
Affiliations: Senior Lecturer, University of Dar es Salaam School of Law
Source: SADC Law Journal, The, 2013, p. 160 – 181

Abstract

The Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) region is one of the fastest urbanising regions in which a majority of its urban and peri-urban dwellers are extra-legal, in that they do not have clear formal titles of land tenure to their land. Expansion of town boundaries occurs without an increase in basic and essential social services, such as the surveying and servicing of plots. Increasingly, states in the region are devising new forms of land tenure as alternatives to the existing tenures, collectively referred to as flexible land tenures, as a way of addressing land tenure insecurity within urban and peri-urban areas but also to economically empower the residents. This paper discusses the legal implications of flexible land tenures on land tenure security within the SADC region using Tanzania as a focal point. Specifically, it discusses the residential licences of Tanzania in the prism of occupancy licences of Zambia and starter and landhold titles of Namibia. It argues that these tenures are temporary and remedial in nature. As much as they have the potential to afford limited tenure security and contribute to economic growth, if not properly managed they might encourage more squatting and informal settlements. This contribution therefore provides a legal and policy framework upon which these licences are issued, the procedures, and the consequences that are attached to the licence holder. Also the relation between the licence and the future of unplanned settlements is discussed based on the overriding question whether such schemes are more for tenure security or urban planning. It is assumed that urbanisation is the major cause of the unplanned settlements.

Sub-Saharan Africa and Climate Change: Revisiting the ‘Multiple Stresses’ Factor and Adaptation Strategies of ECOWAS and SADC zones

by | Oct 14, 2019 | SADC, SADC 2013

Sub-Saharan Africa and Climate Change: Revisiting the ‘Multiple Stresses’ Factor and Adaptation Strategies of ECOWAS and SADC zones

Authors Yemi Oke

ISSN: 2026-8556
Affiliations: Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Law, University of Lagos, Nigeria
Source: SADC Law Journal, The, 2013, p. 139 – 159

Abstract

Global consensus on climate change governance has proved difficult due to dwindling commitments to a binding accord. A new thinking is beginning to emerge in the developing countries that regional, as against global actions, would meet the exigency of climate change mitigation and adaptation particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. This article examines the challenge of climate change mitigation and adaptation in Africa particularly the impact of multiple stresses concept on adaptive capabilities of countries in the Southern African Economic Development Community (‘SADC’) and the Economic Community of West African States (‘ECOWAS’) zones. It advocates decentralised climate change governance through the intensification of concerted efforts and initiatives by countries in the region in curtailing the ‘multiple stress’ factors to climate change. The argument of this paper draws on the weaknesses and strengths of international climate change law in a bid to strengthening the argument for decentralised climate change governance through regional initiatives.

Joint Management as an Emerging Norm in International Watercourses Law: The Case of the SADC

by | Oct 14, 2019 | SADC, SADC 2013

Joint Management as an Emerging Norm in International Watercourses Law: The Case of the SADC

Authors William Attwell

ISSN: 2026-8556
Affiliations: Principal Policy Analyst, City of Cape Town
Source: SADC Law Journal, The, 2013, p. 117 – 138

Abstract

This article examines how the joint management approach to the governance of international watercourses — and its institutional expression: the international river basin organisation or IRBOs — is gaining traction as a norm in international watercourses law in the context of the SADC’s legal and policy architecture. It posits that, in response to the acute water insecurity facing the region, SADC member states have increasingly moved towards an integrated approach to international watercourses law and governance, one that places a strong emphasis on trans-boundary joint management regimes. This is underpinned by legal developments at international, regional and national levels. At an international level, the SADC member states that are party to the UN Convention on the Law of the Non-navigational Uses of International Watercourses have committed to the principles of equitable and reasonable utilisation, as well as provisions promoting the establishment of joint institutions. This has shaped regional international law, notably the 2000 SADC Protocol on Shared Watercourses, with its emphasis on institutional cooperation; as well as the attendant SADC policy documents shaping trans-boundary water governance. The article uses a case study of the Okavango states (Angola, Botswana and Namibia) to assess how the concept of joint management of trans-boundary watercourses has been incorporated into water law at a national level. The paper concludes by examining developments in contemporary international jurisprudence regarding the joint management concept and joint institutions by analysing two cases where the role of such institutions became a prominent theme in judgments handed down by the International Court of Justice.

Aligning Regional Integration Efforts in the SADC-EU Interim Economic Partnership Agreement with the African Economic Community

by | Oct 14, 2019 | SADC, SADC 2013

Aligning Regional Integration Efforts in the SADC-EU Interim Economic Partnership Agreement with the African Economic Community

Authors Mbakiso Magwape

ISSN: 2026-8556
Affiliations: None
Source: SADC Law Journal, The, 2013, p. 104 – 116

Abstract

The contracting States in the SADC-EU Interim Partnership Agreement (IEPA) confirmed their ‘commitment to promote regional cooperation and economic integration in the SADC EPA States’, and further committed to ensuring that ‘mutual arrangements support the process of regional integration under the SADC Treaty’. There have been, however, inconsistencies and dis-harmonisation caused by the IEPA, with regards to prior existing regional integration attempts the SADC has undertaken and committed to. One such regional integration commitment SADC has undertaken can be found in the African Economic Community Treaty (AEC), which requires six stages to be implemented (by Regional Economic Communities which includes the SADC) in order for the AEC to take form. The AEC aims to increase economic reliance and promote self-sustained development through integrating African economies and harmonising policies within those communities as defined in the African Economic Community Treaty (1991) Article 4:1(a) and (d). The SADC is a vital part of the AEC’s plans. The paper shall draw parallels to the regional integration commitments under the SADC-EU IEPA and the AEC treaty, and identifies dis-harmonisation and challenges between the two instruments. This paper shall also identify the stage that the AEC is in, and the SADC’s requirements and performance in complying to such stages, and ask the question whether the SADC-EU IEPA ‘supports’ such an integration process which is key to the SADC and Africa’s Economic aspirations.

Harmonisation or Unification of Laws in the Context of SADC Regional Integration: ‘Analysing the SADC’s Initiatives in the Era of E-commerce’

by | Oct 14, 2019 | SADC, SADC 2013

Harmonisation or Unification of Laws in the Context of SADC Regional Integration: ‘Analysing the SADC’s Initiatives in the Era of E-commerce’

Authors Deo John Nangela

ISSN: 2026-8556
Affiliations: None
Source: SADC Law Journal, The, 2013, p. 80 – 103

Abstract

Regional economic integration is one of the ambitious projects supported by African countries. Several initiatives to realise it, such as the formation of Regional Economic Communities (RECs), have been in place, some well before, and more, after independence. The Southern African Development Community (SADC) is one of the regional economic blocs in Africa. The SADC’s mission and vision include, among other things, support for deeper co-operation and integration among its members, the reason being the desire to benefit from the economies of scale. While this regional economic entity has identified various enablers of deeper integration, such as peace, security, good governance, information and communication technology, liberalisation and private sector development, it is submitted that unless it adopts a harmonised (or unified), ‘technology conscious’ legal regime to support the rest of integration enablers, deeper integration in the region will still remain delusional. The adoption of such a legal framework in the region is necessary at such a time as this when technology forms the basis of modern knowledge-based economy. Such a framework has the potential to lessen cross-border business intricacies in the region. If, for instance, the region resolves to adopt a radical approach towards development of a unified legal regime, especially in the area of private international law, this may boost the development of e-commerce which is largely a cross-border activity. E-commerce, which forms part of the ‘new economy’, is essentially an important means of accessing the hitherto unaccessed markets, and, as a cross-border activity, is a catalyst for the integration process. As such, its development requires an environment with harmonised or unified legal rules that are technology conscious. This paper, therefore, supports a two prong approach to the facilitation of e-commerce in the region, ie, harmonisation and/or unification of laws. It examines the process of legal harmonisation in the context of the SADC region while also supporting the idea of possible unification in certain areas of the law. It suggests that, although the SADC region’s preference seems to incline towards legal harmonisation in future, the region may consider legal unification as a radical approach in certain areas of law such as private international law. The paper also argues that, with the development of e-commerce as a cross-border activity, an effective system of resolving conflict of laws issues within the region is an important attribute to the region’s successful economic integration. Such a system is currently lacking in the SADC’s integration process. In this regard the paper considers, however, that a successful integration process is not only a question of removal of economic and political differences but also removal of legal impediments, including those which arise out of underdeveloped commercial, criminal and private international law frameworks. In view of this, SADC member states need to demonstrate their commitment, political will and understanding of the fact that the successes of any economic integration includes, among other things, an appropriate legal framework which fosters and sustains the integration process.