Towards a common flow: water law harmonization in SADC member states

Southern African Development Community (SADC) member states often rely on shared water resources to meet socio-economic objectives. To ensure sustainable management of these shared watercourses, governments have committed to the obligations set out in the Revised SADC Protocol on Shared Watercourses. The Protocol calls for closer cooperation in the pursuit of sustainable utilization of these watercourses through the harmonization of legislation. To this end, the paper evaluated the extent to which the selected water laws of four SADC member states align with the objectives and provisions of the Protocol. The selected SADC member states are South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana, and Namibia. The member states were evaluated against 6 key performance areas and 30 key performance indicators based on the principles and obligations outlined in the Protocol. Results revealed substantial harmonization in provisions for the sustainable, equitable, and reasonable utilization of shared watercourses, as well as for the protection and preservation of aquatic ecosystems. Conversely, weak harmonization for measures to promote harmonization of legislation and communication between member states was observed. Inadequate harmonization of national water laws across SADC states undermines effective transboundary governance, leading to fragmented management and constraining the region's ability to achieve sustainable, cooperative use of shared watercourses.