An Overview of the Case Study Countries

The Republic of South Africa is located at the southern tip of Africa. With a surface area of approximately 1,221,037 sq.km, South Africa is the ninth largest country in Africa by land area. South Africa is bordered in the north by two landlocked countries, Zimbabwe and Botswana; in the northeast, it is bordered by Mozambique and Eswatini (formerly Swaziland), and Namibia in the northwest. It completely encloses the Kingdom of Lesotho. South Africa is also bordered by the Atlantic Ocean in the west and the Indian Ocean in the southeast, leaving it with an extensive coastline. From a geopolitical standpoint, it should be underlined that South Africa is surrounded by states with highly centralised political systems. Thus, even though most of its provinces share a border with neighbouring states, and Pretoria has taken the lead in promoting a regional integration scheme through SADC, their cross-border relations tend to fall prey to the constraints of disparities in legal and administrative systems. Conversely, some of South Africa’s official languages, including Setswana, Sesotho, and SiSwati, are shared with neighbouring countries such as Botswana, Lesotho, and Eswatini, creating an enabling environment for cross-border paradiplomacy with a cultural focus.