On 6 December 2019, Parliament’s Ad Hoc Committee published the Constitution Eighteenth Amendment Bill (Amendment Bill) for public comment. In terms of Parliament’s Notice, the public has until 31 January 2020 to submit written submissions on the proposed Bill.

The Ad Hoc Committee is tasked with the drafting of the amendment to section 25 of the Constitution – the property clause – to make “explicit that which is implicit in the Constitution, with regards to expropriation of land without compensation, as a legitimate option for land reform”.

On 29 November 2019, the FW de Klerk Foundation (the Foundation) made a written submission on the National Health Insurance Bill [B11-2019] (NHI Bill) to the Portfolio Committee on Health. The NHI Bill envisions the establishment of the NHI Fund – a health financing system serving as the “single purchaser and payer of health care services”, – to effectively achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC) and give effect to the State’s constitutional duty to provide access to healthcare services.

The Foundation unequivocally supports the pursuit of UHC – characterised by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as providing all people with access to health services of sufficient quality, without financial hardship. The Foundation, however, does not believe that the proposed NHI is the only means to achieve this noble goal for South Africa. 

Former President De Klerk, Mrs De Klerk and the staff of the FW de Klerk Foundation would like to extend their warmest birthday wishes to Archbishop

We, the Nobel Peace Laureates and Peace Laureate Organisations, gathered at the XVIIth World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates from 19 – 22 September 2019, wish to thank the State of Yucatán, the city of Mérida and the nation of Mexico for hosting this World Summit. We are inspired by being able to meet in a city and state with such warmly hospitable people, with such a rich Mexican and Mayan cultural heritage and surrounded by such natural beauty.

We commend the progress that the State of Yucatán has made in implementing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and encourage the promotion of a just society for all.   

The FW de Klerk Foundation has taken note of today’s decision of the Equality Court in Johannesburg to declare that the “gratuitous display” of the old South African flag, constitutes “hate speech.”

The raising of our new flag over the Union Buildings was one of the proudest moments of South Africa’s long and troubled history.  It became a symbol of national unity, reconciliation and the values in our new constitution. Under such circumstances, the FW de Klerk Foundation and the great majority of white South Africans have long accepted – and continue to accept – that it would be insensitive and inappropriate to fly the old flag – particularly because of the painful memories that it symbolises for many South Africans. 

This year the staff of the FW de Klerk Foundation and its Centre for Constitutional Rights (CFCR) again join the rest of the world in celebrating the life and legacy of former President Nelson Mandela.  

The Foundation shares Madiba’s vision to spread social justice and freedom for all, and welcomes the opportunity be part of a Mandela Day – now in its 10th year. 

Echoing the new Mandela Day strategy’s primary focus on collaborative partnerships, the FW de Klerk Foundation partners with several worthy organisations through its long-running Support for Charities Programme. These organisations include Autism Western Cape, Friends of Vista Nova, Innovation for the Blind, Iris House Children’s Hospice, the National Institute for the Deaf (NID), Salesian Life Choices and the Woodside Special Care Centre. All are committed to making a daily difference in the lives of persons with disabilities, and underprivileged youth. Thanks to the generosity of its funding partners, the Nedbank South African Charity Golf Day and the Maurice Hatter Foundation, the FW de Klerk Foundation is able to contribute to positive change in the lives of hundreds of South Africans.

The FW de Klerk Foundation has often expressed the view that the choice confronting the ANC – and accordingly South Africa – is between the racial ideology of the National Democratic Revolution (NDR) on the one hand, and the much more pragmatic approach of the National Development Plan (NDP), on the other.  For us the most significant elements in President Ramaphosa’s SONA speech last night were:

• a strong reaffirmation of the NDP and a new determination to place it “at the centre of our national effort, to make it alive, to make it part of the lived experience of the South African people”;
• an unambiguous reaffirmation of South African Reserve Banks’ constitutional role to protect the value of the rand in the interest of balanced and sustainable growth; and
• a brief reference to the core question of land reform with a renewed commitment to “accelerated land reform in rural and urban areas” and significantly “a clear property rights regime” – as well as an announcement that the Cabinet would soon consider the report of the Presidential Advisory Panel on Land Reform and Agriculture.
  

The FW de Klerk Foundation welcomes the announcement of the Cabinet last night by President Cyril Ramaphosa. In appointing and restructuring the Cabinet, he made good on at least two promises: a smaller and more efficient Cabinet and the need for honest and efficient members of the highest executive office in the land – however, factoring in the additional Deputy Ministers, it is not a cost-saving in real terms. As expected, it is also not a 100% Ramaphosa first choice Cabinet, but those erstwhile supporters of his predecessor are few and far between. The Cabinet (including the Deputy Ministers) represents a good balance of experience and youth, with the most strategic ministries occupied by people closely aligned to the views and reformist direction of the President. Especially these appointments will instil confidence, not only in the markets and investors, but in the majority of ordinary South Africans.