“This study explores whether in approving the establishment of the SADC PF as a consultative assembly, the Summit of SADC
Heads of State and Government (Summit) consciously envisaged the establishment,
in the long term, of a regional parliament with lawmaking powers. Or, was it simply recognition of the inevitability of the need for a semblance of representation of citizens in regional policymaking through elected representatives, albeit without much significant influence? Could it have been part of the healthy tension that characterises relations between the executive and legislative arms of government at national level, where the former appears to give up some of its hegemony in government and governance, and subordinate
itself to robust scrutiny and sanction while, in practice, maintaining the upper hand?”
