The Southern African Development Community (SADC) was founded in August 1992 as a successor to the former Southern African Development Co-ordination Conference (SADCC) which had been established on 1 April 1980. In SADCC the important task was to enhance co-ordination of development programmes and projects of member states whereas SADC is mainly pursuing the integration of development and the liberalisation of economies in the region.In this survey the focus will be on general issues applicable to regional and economic integration, specifically those relevant to the SADC region. The major part of the study will give attention to the position of South Africa in the economic SADC bloc, as well as to initiatives for closer financial co-operation and possible future economic integration.