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FROM WATCHDOG TO LAPDOG: HOW THE IPID AMENDMENT BILL SHAKES SOUTH AFRICA’S POLICING

On 30 July 2023, the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) Amendment Bill was introduced in the National Assembly, and is currently being considered by Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Police. Despite being labelled as unconstitutional by legal experts, including the Office of the Chief State Law Advisor, the Bill seeks to grant unprecedented power to Police Minister Bheki Cele over the IPID. The Bill has sparked intense debate and legal scrutiny in South Africa, with concern expressed over the potential implications it carries for the nation’s policing sector.

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LIKE CAESAR’S WIFE, THE PUBLIC PROTECTOR MUST BE ABOVE SUSPICION

On 29 August 2023, Kholeka Gcaleka, who is the Acting Public Protector (APP), was nominated as the candidate to succeed the disgraced Busisiwe Mkhwebane as Public Protector (PP). Mkhwebane’s predecessor, Advocate Thuli Madonsela, demonstrated how the office of Public Protector could play a crucial role in holding to account state institutions that were suspected of improper conduct. Indeed, her fearless exposure of state capture under President Jacob Zuma played a pivotal role in forcing his resignation. Sadly, Mkhwebane did not continue this proud tradition and instead mired the office in unseemly controversy after controversy, racking up an unprecedented number of judicial rebukes in the process.

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CONDOLENCES FOR THE PASSING OF RAYMOND ACKERMAN

The FW de Klerk Foundation is deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Raymond Ackerman, founder of Pick ‘n Pay. The Foundation would like to express its heartfelt condolences to his family, friends and colleagues, especially to his beloved wife Wendy.

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CELEBRATING THE 25TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE NEDBANK SA CHARITY GOLF DAY

After FW de Klerk’s passing, the FW de Klerk Foundation entered a period of deep introspection regarding its future role and orientation. Eventually, the Foundation decided to continue with its existing vision to be a self-sustaining organisation that promotes – and that will, in the long term, continue to promote the South African Constitution; national unity, reconciliation and the accommodation of diversity; and the legacy of President FW de Klerk and the South African constitutional transformation process.

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THE NINE LIVES OF JACOB ZUMA

On 11 August 2023, after serving just over an hour in the Estcourt Prison, former president Jacob Zuma was granted a “special remission” and walked out of prison a free man thanks to the transparent intervention of President Cyril Ramaphosa.

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