The harmonisation of traffic legislation in the Southern African Development Community (SADC)

Abstract

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) in recent years has made some significant progress in regional transportation developments carried out in each member state. The progress made has not been without seething problems. The paper is divided into four parts. In the first part, the presenter takes a brief look at some of the SADC existing Protocols, paying more emphasis to the ?Protocol on Transport, Communication and Meteorology?. In the second part of the paper, the presenter looks at some of SADC strategic goals relevant to transportation and also reviewing some of SADC integrated transport policies. In the third part, the presenter identifies some of the existing barriers to legislative harmonization of traffic laws in SADC regions as follows: economic drawbacks by member states, lack of a single currency to stimulate economic growth, language barrier, diverse legal systems, lack of security and stability within the region, and the inability of SADC to market its vision, objectives and services both within SADC?s region and internationally. The paper is based on an extensive literature review; and a review of existing Protocols and domestic laws of member states. The presenter draws the conclusion that SADC has some laudable objectives in relation to harmonization of traffic legislations but it has become problematic for these SADC desirable objectives to be realized without first finding ways to dismantling the barriers enumerated above.