For the poorest South Africans, 1 April 2017 may indeed be April Fool’s Day as they return empty-handed from SASSA collection points, when the contract of Cash Paymaster Services (CPS), distributors of social grants on behalf of SASSA, comes to an end on 31 March.
For the poorest South Africans, 1 April 2017 may indeed be April Fool’s Day as they return empty-handed from SASSA collection points, when the contract of Cash Paymaster Services (CPS), distributors of social grants on behalf of SASSA, comes to an end on 31 March.
For more than 16 million beneficiaries, the next few weeks remain uncertain and deeply worrying. For people dependent on the Child Support Grant (R350 pm), the Grant for Older Persons (R1510 pm), the Disability Grant (R1510 pm), the Grant-in-aid (R350 pm), the Care Dependency Grant (R1510 pm), the War Veteran’s Grant (R1530 pm), the Foster Care Grant (R890 pm) and the Social Relief of Distress Grant, the unmitigated mess created by the incompetence and leaderless SASSA may be a case of life or death. Government’s R10 billion a month spend on the poorest of the poor is in serious jeopardy.
The FW de Klerk Foundation has responded in the affirmative to a call for submissions by the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) on Racism and Social Media in South Africa, with hearings scheduled for 15 and 16 February 2017.
The largely positive relations between people are disrupted by jarring and painful incidents that have the prospect, through the ease of use of social media to go viral and stir up deep emotions – as has been evident more recently. The Foundation is not contesting the use of social media in its submission, it is the use of racist and abusive terminology to describe other people that is at the core of the argument. Such incidents clearly set the agenda back significantly and have the effect of polarising people.
The FW de Klerk Foundation is honoured to have been requested by the SAHRC to make a submission on Racism and Social Media in South Africa. This written submission could be expanded upon at the national hearings scheduled for 15 and 16 February 2017.
On 31 January 2017, the FW de Klerk Foundation, together with other advocates of freedom of expression, made a written submission to the Department of Justice on the Prevention and Combating of Hate Crimes and Hate Speech Bill (Hate Crimes and Hate Speech Bill). The Foundation used the opportunity to highlight that bolstering, consolidating and empowering existing laws and institutions is a sounder starting point than promulgating new laws with harsh consequences.
In brief, the Hate Crimes and Hate Speech Bill aims to criminalise the offences of hate speech and hate crimes. In terms of this proposed Bill, it is possible for a person to be imprisoned for three years following their first conviction for the offence of hate speech, with ten years imprisonment for subsequent offences.
On 2 February 1990 Mr De Klerk stood up in Parliament to make a speech. It should have been an ordinary speech, it should have been a runof-the-mill speech in which President De Klerk would be espousing the policies of the National Party. But instead, in that speech he turned on its head 500 years of history.
We are privileged to have with us today a number of eminent South Africans who are very well-qualified to address various aspects of our conference today. Judge Yacoob will give us his assessment of where we stand with regard to constitutionality; Moeletsi Mbeki and Christo Wiese will provide perspectives on governance – particularly with regard to the economy. Our goal will be to consider “The Constitution and Governance in South Africa” and to ask whether these are now “at another crossroads?”
To state the obvious, there are diverse, sometime conflicting, business interests. The interests of manufacturers seeking protection from imports and subsidies for exports differ from the wholesaler and retailer wanting to offer consumers an expanded product range at lower prices.
The Board of Trustees of the FW de Klerk Foundation decided at its last meeting in 2016 to award the 2017 FW de Klerk Goodwill Award to the coach and athlete team of Mrs Anna (Ans) Botha, and Mr Wayde van Niekerk.
The Board of Trustees of the FW de Klerk Foundation established the FW de Klerk Goodwill Award in 2010 to give recognition to individuals and organisations that have made exceptional contributions to the promotion of goodwill between South Africans. Past winners include Dr Danny Jordaan (2011), Pieter-Dirk Uys (2012), Studietrust (2013), Patrice Motsepe (2014), Afrika Tikkun (2015) and Adv Thuli Madonsela and the Office of the Public Protector (2016).
