The Constitution Archives - Page 54 of 67

ARTICLE: THE DISMANTLING OF APARTHEID

2020-06-01

There has recently been some debate regarding when, how and by whom apartheid was dismantled. The “why” of the dismantling of apartheid is more complex: growing international pressure and domestic resistance undoubtedly played a central role. However, other factors included the evolving attitudes of white South Africans; growing acceptance of the injustice of apartheid among white leadership groups; and the irresistible need to adjust policy to accommodate the de facto realities of an increasingly integrated economy and society.

ARTICLE: DEFENDING THE 1996 CONSTITUTION

2020-05-05

In six articles that recently appeared in Politicsweb, Prof Koos Malan provided an expert analysis of many of the problems facing the constitution.

He is clearly not a fan of the 1996 constitution. He questions the wisdom of those who have put their faith in the prospect that it would “usher in and guarantee peace, reconciliation and the protection of rights for all.”

He goes on to question the premises on which so many South Africans have based their faith in the constitution – that it is ‘supreme’, that it contains adequate checks and balances – and that it will be administered by a fearless and impartial judiciary.

ARTICLE: FOUR MYTHS DEBUNKED

2020-02-13

The FW de Klerk Foundation was established in 1999 to promote and protect the Constitution and its values, as well as to commemorate the transition to democracy in the early 90s. Each year, the Foundation hosts its Annual Conference around 2 February to commemorate former President FW de Klerk’s historic speech on that day in 1990 – when the transition formally started with announcement that political parties would be unbanned and political prisoners (among which Nelson Mandela was the most prominent) were to be released. This Conference was held in Cape Town this year on Friday, 31 January, 30 years after this momentous speech.

ARTICLE: THE ROAD TO 2 FEBRUARY 1990

2020-02-02

The road to 2 February 1990 can be traced back to the creation of the Union of South Africa in 1910.

In 1909 Britain decided to establish a union of its principal colonies in southern Africa along the lines of the successful federations that it had set up in Australia and Canada. The difference was that in the other dominions the white populations greatly outnumbered the indigenous peoples – while in South Africa they comprised less than 25% of the total population.

Nevertheless, in keeping with the colonial approach of the times, Britain gave white South Africans a monopoly of power in the newly established Union. It was an arrangement that, in a rapidly changing world, would eventually prove to be untenable.

For the next 40 years South Africa developed along the lines of the other Commonwealth dominions. Until the mid-fifties, in a continent that was still dominated by European powers, white minority rule in South Africa seemed unexceptional. In a world in which racial discrimination was still shockingly the rule, South Africa’s segregation policies elicited little criticism.

SPEECH: HOPE FOR THE FUTURE: ACHIEVING THE VISION IN THE CONSTITUTION

2020-01-31

Last year the Wall Street Journal wrote that South Africa was at a crossroads, in 2018 the Medium Term Budget Policy Statement was too titled ‘South Africa at a Crossroads’, stressing the difficult economic and fiscal choices confronting the government, and in 2017 South Africa was once again at a crossroads according to a discussion held at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies. No doubt an expert in something, somewhere, was saying we are at a crossroads the year before that, and again another ten years before that.

ARTICLE: FIVE TRENDS TO UNDERSTAND AND MANAGE 2020

2020-01-09

At the start of a new year, we all reflect on the year ahead, what we want to do, what we are excited about, and what we are afraid of. What about the country – politics, the economy and our social life? It is impossible to make predictions, but one can describe certain trends, which are accompanied by certain events and their possible consequences.

Broadly, there are five trends that emerged during 2019 that will significantly impact the political and socio-economic landscape in 2020 – and which can help one to understand and cope with the year.

The first is a growing trend of centralisation and state control (read ANC control) of various aspects of South African society. There are currently four pieces of draft legislation (most of which were recently published by the ANC-controlled Parliament before the December holidays) that have one thing in common: greater and/ or absolute control over important national issues, which do not necessarily need State control or that should not be controlled because it is in the private domain according to constitutional requirements.

ARTICLE: DOES THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT JUDGMENT SIGNAL THE END FOR AFRIKAANS IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS?

2019-11-26

The dust has settled a bit regarding the Constitutional Court’s ruling in the Gelyke Kanse (GK) case on Stellenbosch University’s (SU) Language Policy (read the full analysis of the case here). The implications of this ruling are relevant for SU and the Potchefstroom Campus of the North-West University (NWU Potch); and perhaps most importantly of all, for Afrikaans as a language of instruction in public schools.

ARTICLE: EWC OR ECONOMIC RECOVERY?

2019-11-08

The Ad Hoc Committee to Initiate and Introduce Legislation Amending Section 25 of the Constitution convened a “constitutional dialogue” in Cape Town on 6 November 2019 to which it invited members of the public and civil society organisations – including the FW de Klerk Foundation’s Centre for Constitutional Rights (CFCR).

The Ad Hoc Committee was appointed by Parliament following a resolution by the National Assembly on 6 December 2018, “to initiate and introduce legislation amending section 25 of the Constitution”. The Ad Hoc Committee was tasked with making “explicit that which is implicit in the Constitution” regarding expropriation without compensation (EWC) and was required to finalise its work by 31 March 2020.

ARTICLE: WHOSE HERITAGE?

2019-09-24

Today is Heritage Day. This day was placed on the calendar after the 1994 negotiated settlement. The celebrations differ from South African to South African, but on the first commemoration of Heritage Day in 1995, President Nelson Mandela said the day was introduced because the government realised that “our rich and diverse cultural heritage has the power to help us build our new nation”. Heritage is therefore not only intended to celebrate diversity, but also to help build unity.

It is interesting that 24 September was initially not on the list of public holidays when the Public Holidays Bill was presented in Parliament in 1995. The Inkatha Freedom Party insisted that this day, upon which the Zulu nation traditionally celebrated Shaka Day (commemorating the Zulu King’s conciliatory role between the different Zulu tribes), be added to the list of public holidays. The compromise accepted was that the day would be called Heritage Day – and would apply to all South Africans, and not just to the Zulus.

View Archived Content

ARTICLE: THE DISMANTLING OF APARTHEID

ARTICLE: DEFENDING THE 1996 CONSTITUTION

ARTICLE: FOUR MYTHS DEBUNKED

ARTICLE: THE ROAD TO 2 FEBRUARY 1990

SPEECH: HOPE FOR THE FUTURE: ACHIEVING THE VISION IN THE CONSTITUTION

ARTICLE: FIVE TRENDS TO UNDERSTAND AND MANAGE 2020

ARTICLE: DOES THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT JUDGMENT SIGNAL THE END FOR AFRIKAANS IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS?

ARTICLE: EWC OR ECONOMIC RECOVERY?

ARTICLE: WHOSE HERITAGE?

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