Abstract
This study investigates the challenges South African teachers face in delivering Economic and Management Sciences (EMS) as an integrated subject in the Senior Phase (Grades 8 and 9). While curriculum policy intends for EMS to develop holistic commercial literacy through the seamless integration of Financial Literacy, Economics, and Entrepreneurship, teachers struggle to enact this integration effectively. Framed by Rogan and Grayson's (2003) Theory of Curriculum Implementation, this qualitative case study examines the experiences of seven EMS teachers across four Soweto township schools. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, eight classroom observations, and analysis of curriculum documents and assessments. Findings reveal a fundamental paradox that EMS exists as an integrated subject in name only. Triangulation across all data sources demonstrates that the Annual Teaching Plan (ATP) enforces topic separation, assessment structures reward strand specific performance, and professional development models fragmentation rather than integration. Classroom observations confirmed that no integration occurred in any observed lesson. Teachers taught components in isolation, citing structural constraints rather than pedagogical preference. Significantly, six of seven participants advocated for formal subject separation, recognising that the curriculum's design contradicts its integrative rhetoric. The study concludes that teachers are being asked to implement an integration that does not exist in curriculum design.