Multilaterale samewerking in Suider‐Afrika – politieke perspektiewe

Abstract

The purpose of this research note is to outline a tentative research agenda concerning multilateral co‐operation between states in Southern Africa. A brief historical review of the development of multilateral co‐operation in the region is provided before the process that led to the current dispensation in terms of interstatal links and the nature of that dispensation is described. The Secretariat for Multilateral Co‐operation in Southern Africa (SECOSAF) comprising South Africa and the TBVC states – and various lower‐order bodies that aim to facilitate co‐operation between South Africa and the “independent” homelands form the focus of this part of the article. Various suggestions are then made concerning the compilation of a research agenda on the topic. These include a greater emphasis on the political aspects of co‐operation; the adumbration of a theoretical framework for analyzing a multilateral co‐operation dispensation (where a case is made for clarifying the idea of confederal co‐operation) and the renewed analysis of SECOSAF within such a framework.