People who are sceptical about big government sometimes observe that society can afford lazy and ineffective public servants because, on the whole, they do little harm – apart from consuming taxpayers’ money.
According to a statement made by the Minister of Higher Education, Blade Nzimande, during his budget debate earlier this week, “… we no longer have Afrikaans or Zulu or Tswana universities. All our universities are South African universities and must serve all the people of this country.”
Jonathan Jansen is one of our most outspoken and influential academic leaders. From time to time he has taken sensible and courageous decisions in navigating the minefield of transformational politics at his own university, the University of the Free State.
In an article that he wrote for Rapport last Sunday, Frans Cronje of the Institute for Race Relations quite rightly warned South Africans to plan for all eventualities.
The central message of President Zuma’s second inaugural address is that, during the next five years, his new government will launch the “second phase of our transition from apartheid to a national democratic society.
According to media reports, the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development is getting ready to introduce indigenous language courts “in an attempt to speed up justice” and “make courts more accessible”.
A pilot project for indigenous language courts was run in 2009, but was stopped after an assessment by the Department. The Department stated last month that it was reopening the project.
According to the Department, the objective is to introduce and promote the use of indigenous languages in a few courts, then to expand to other courts.
The 21st of May is World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development.
It is recognised to provide an opportunity to deepen our understanding of the values of cultural diversity and to learn to “live together” better.
The South African Constitution fully recognises the diverse nature of our society and states that South Africa belongs to all who live in it – united in our diversity.
There are a few points that we should consider in the wake of last week’s election.
The first – and most positive – is that the fifth election of our new constitutional dispensation has helped to consolidate and entrench our constitutional democracy. The elections were free and fair and were, on the whole, managed in an exemplary fashion. All those involved – the 18.6 million voters who cast their ballots; the political parties that participated and the IEC – deserve our sincere congratulations.
World Press Freedom Day was proclaimed by the UN General Assembly in December 1993, following the recommendation of a UNESCO General Conference.
Since then every 3rd of May is an anniversary of the Declaration of Windhoek and is celebrated worldwide as World Press Freedom Day. It is an opportunity to:
