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Trade in the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) region experiences imbalances due to South Africa’s dominance and fragmented communication. This study aims to highlight communication's strategic role in enhancing trade policy, logistics, and cooperation within SACU, focusing on digital platforms, ICT, policy alignment, and transparency. A qualitative, literature-based methodology is conducted, employing thematic analysis of academic and institutional sources to explore how communication strategies influence trade facilitation and integration within SACU. Five key themes are identified: Uneven ICT infrastructure, Economic impact of clear policy communication, Trade imbalances due to information asymmetry, Underutilised digital trade platforms, and Urgent need for communication capacity building. Communication’s crucial role for SACU integration includes institutional coordination, private sector engagement, and crisis management. It identifies missed strategic opportunities like dashboards and localized messaging. Addressing gaps in communication capacity, ICT infrastructure, digital platforms, and policy communication is vital for equitable, efficient regional trade integration. Policy proposals include investing in infrastructure, consolidating digital platforms, standardizing protocols, and promoting inclusive consultations. The study emphasizes adaptive governance and integration with regional value chains to ensure inclusive, efficient trade facilitation and equitable economic development across all member states.

Small, Micro- and Medium Enterprises (SMMEs) play a significant role in most world economies, particularly in developing countries. South Africa’s SMMEs demonstrate a high failure rate and do not seem to match the performances of applicable best practices. Regarding construction SMMEs, these issues are particularly noticeable. This study wants to investigate the level of performance of SMMEs in the construction industry of the Gauteng Province in South Africa as compared to SADC and best practices by addressing the research question, “To what extent do Gauteng construction SMMEs deviate from global best practice and SADC measures in terms of performance metrics?”, using regional and global lenses. The study design was cross-sectional qualitative based on secondary data. The targeted study population consisted of registered Gauteng construction SMMEs, and SADC and global best practices benchmarks were used for measuring these performances. The study found the Gauteng construction SMMEs were not engaging in social responsibility, and were lacking the most in business results, policy and strategy, processes, and in people management.

This study examined the demographic and operational attributes of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Windhoek, Namibia, and their ramifications for bank funding. The study analysed a sample of 66 small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) owners and operators, focussing on gender, education, age, company experience, yearly income, sector type, and business registration status. Findings indicate a prevalence of female entrepreneurs, a well-educated business populace, and an emphasis on middle-aged business proprietors. The data indicates that although a considerable number of SMEs were in the nascent phases of operation, the majority of enterprises were registered with the Business and Intellectual Property Authority (BIPA). The findings highlighted the capacity of financial institutions (FIs) to offer customised assistance to SMEs, particularly in varied and non-traditional industries, to foster sustainable economic growth in Windhoek. The study finishes with recommendations for banks to enhance services and assess the funding requirements of these enterprises according to their distinct characteristics and challenges

The study explored perceptions regarding the experiences and perceptions of people in rural areas regarding the quality of borehole water and the health risks involved. A country-wide study using face-to-face and virtual meetings was implored to interview the respondents. In five of the nine South African provinces, purposefully selected focus groups were used to interview the participants. The members were carefully gathered due to their previous knowledge and/or experiences with boreholes or water contaminants. In the other four provinces, four conveniently sampled individuals who were willing to share their impressions were interviewed. The participants unanimously mention that the water quality in boreholes of government is poor, and that there are dangerous contaminants in the water. The knowledgeable groups were aware of some studies in their areas that had found various forms of agricultural deposits, minerals, chemicals, and even dirty deposits from other areas. They also complained that the boreholes were not maintained, and the water had become undrinkable. These sentiments were confirmed from individual responses through interviews, concurring that borehole quality is generally poor, and the health risks are very high. The paper recommended innovative methods to treat boreholes and clean the water to improve its quality and reduce the health risks that pollute the water.