Abstract
This paper explores how South Africa fits into the regional pattern
of trade and what a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the European Union
(EU) meant for South Africa’s regional trading partners. The trade agreement
provides an illustration of this facet of South Africa’s foreign policy with a particular
consideration for how this has affected SACU and the SADC region. It
clearly demonstrates an instance when South Africa opted to negotiate with a
major global economy without taking into consideration its SADC partners,
choosing to “go it alone” instead. This is an interesting scenario as it demonstrates
South Africa’s potential to act in isolation – independently from its
region. It puts into question South Africa’s need to bring its region along with
it to the negotiation table. At the same time, however the tensions that have
emerged in the region, among SADC members, about this very position, have
been difficult for South Africa to manage. As such this is a scenario of South
Africa acting alone highlighting its pursuit of narrow national interests and
the resulting repercussions for its regional partners. The primary research
question in relation to this instance is the extent to which the SADC region
was a constraint or an opportunity for South Africa during these Trade, Development
and Cooperation Agreement (TDCA) negotiations.
The paper begins with a brief account of the reasons for the selection
of this external relations example which is followed by a short description of
the economic constraints of South Africa. A detailed synopsis of the main
events relating to the South Africa/EU trade negotiations from 1995 to 2008
is then presented, before this process is analysed in relation to objectives and...