Facebook Twitter Youtube Linkedin Instagram


+27 (0) 21 930 3622
info@fwdeklerk.org
View Archived Content

ARTICLE: IS MILITARISING POLICING IN THE WESTERN CAPE THE ANSWER?

2019-07-12

ARMY opt

On 11 July President Cyril Ramaphosa approved the deployment of South African National Defence Force (SANDF) units to help the South African Police Service (SAPS) combat unacceptable levels of violence in the Cape Flats.  The question is whether this action is appropriate and whether it will be effective.

There can be no doubt regarding the seriousness of the situation: 2 302 people were murdered in Cape Town during the first six months of 2019.  This represents a murder rate of more than 100/100 000 – compared with 33/100 000 for South Africa and 6/100 000 for the world.  This gives Cape Town one of the highest murder rates in the world.  

This already deplorable situation was further exacerbated over the weekend of 5 and 6 July 2019, when 13 people were violently killed in the township of Philippi East, located in Cape Town’s notorious gang-ridden Cape Flats. Of those killed, six were women who were gunned down brutally at a residence in the Marcus Garvey area. Another three young people, between the ages of 17 and 25, were shot dead at a friend’s home. Following the spate of deaths, residents from Philippi East, most of them women, marched to the neighbourhood’s police station to demand more effective police action.

Read More »

ARTICLE: WELL-FUNCTIONING MUNICIPALITIES – PART OF PRESIDENT RAMAPHOSA’S DREAM OR A NEVER-ENDING NIGHTMARE?

2019-07-03

broken pipes opt

There were two eye-catching issues in the media this past week.

South Africa’s largest chicken producer, Astral, announced that its chicken plant in Standerton no longer receives sufficient water from the local Lekwa Municipality (Standerton). This plant is the largest on the continent and slaughters two million chickens weekly. In addition, Astral’s feed mill in Standerton is also the largest on the continent – one that was recently built at significant cost, following written assurances by the Municipality that sufficient water and electricity would be available. The reason for the lack of water supply to the largest employer in town? Ongoing poor maintenance of water infrastructure – pumps and pipe ducts – needed to pump water from the Vaal River 8 km away.

Read More »

ARTICLE: DOES MR LESUFI DESERVE A PASS?

2019-06-24

schoolkids sa foter

The Gauteng MEC for Education, Andrek Panyaza Lesufi, is an interesting man. A large part of the mainly black population think the world of him. He is a MEC who is “hands-on”, and is seen and heard wherever there is trouble in the Gauteng school system. He is regularly in the media and holds a press conference once a week – usually on a Sunday afternoon at his home. He was even mentioned as a possible successor to the current Basic Education Minister, Angie Motshekga. Another part of mostly the white (and Afrikaans) population is of the opinion that he is waging war on Afrikaans as a language of instruction in schools – and in addition to that, harbours anti-white sentiments.

Read More »

ARTICLE: THE NEW CABINET: ABLE TO DELIVER OR THE SAME OLD SAME OLD?

2019-06-05

parliament interior sabc

The excitement and disappointment (in some quarters) regarding the appointment of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Cabinet has settled. A number of articles have already been written about the Cabinet and its strong points, weak points, old members, and new recruits.  The question remains: can the new Cabinet deliver on the President’s promises?

It is essential to remember that the most fundamental change to the new Cabinet is the chairman. How President Ramaphosa will lead- and what he prioritises- will distinguish his Cabinet from that of its predecessor. In addition, what is new is the support he will have. It is now generally understood that the choice of Ministers and deputies was a product of intense behind-the-scenes negotiations with various stakeholders. In the end, of the 28 Ministers, only five are known Zuma supporters (including Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, who in the recent past has actually become supportive of the Ramaphosa cause). This implies that Ramaphosa has more than 80% of his Cabinet not in opposition to him or his plans. Even though the number of Deputy Ministers was inflated beyond initial plans, it is clear that at most, 12 of the 34 deputies were products of compromise with the Zuptoid faction. This gives Ramaphosa 75% support in the entire group and even more in the actual Cabinet of 28. That is a strong start, especially when one considers the potency of various factions and stakeholders in the ANC alliance.  It is believed that the President (as many before him) will have a smaller, trusted circle, a kitchen Cabinet – and this is where he will start. 

Read More »

ARTICLE: THE SEMINAL CHALLENGES CONFRONTING PRESIDENT RAMAPHOSA

2019-05-24

FWDK Matthew Willman SML

Cyril Ramaphosa’s election as President of the ANC at NASREC in December 2017 was the second great turning point in the history of the new South Africa.  The first had come at the ANC’s elective conference at Polokwane in 2007, when Jacob Zuma had defeated an astonished Thabo Mbeki in the election for the ANC’s presidency.

Zuma’s victory had its roots in a decision that was taken at COSATU’s 9th Congress in 2006 when the organisation decided to launch a battle for the ‘heart and soul’ of the ANC.  It resolved, among other things, that “the working class must re-direct the NDR towards socialism and jealously guard it against opportunistic tendencies that are attempting to wrest it from achieving its logical conclusion, which is socialism”.

Read More »

ARTICLE: IS CYRIL WINNING? FACTORS IN THE COMPOSITION OF THE NEW CABINET

2019-05-20

parliament interior sabc

On 22 May, Cyril Ramaphosa will be elected by the National Assembly as President of democratic South Africa, with his inauguration on May 25. According to available information, the Cabinet will be announced on 27 May.

It is therefore too early to speculate on exactly who will be included in the Cabinet and who not. The lists currently doing the rounds have probably been released by various factions to determine which way the wind is blowing – and perhaps influence the wind’s direction.

Read More »

ARTICLE: WHAT TO DO IN THE LAST DAYS BEFORE THE SIXTH DEMOCRATIC ELECTION?

2019-05-06

sa election foter

It is generally accepted that, after a period of intense political and social turmoil, South Africans are generally somewhat despondent, negative and bewildered. It is not necessary to further expand upon this – the daily dose of the latest state-capture scandal, road and flood deaths are well-known.

However, a general election doesn’t come every year. And with just two days before the election, the question is: what does one do from now until Wednesday and how does one approach the polling station on May 8, 2019? The correct answer is not, “nothing special”. Or, “I’m not going to vote”, or “I don’t know who to vote for”.

Read More »

CATEGORIES

ISSUES