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FW DE KLERK FOUNDATION TO RELEASE HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT CARD
Issued by Daniela Ellerbeck on behalf of the FW de Klerk Foundation on 10/03/2026
The FW de Klerk Foundation will release its annual Human Rights Report Card on 18 March 2026, in commemoration of Human Rights Day and in honour of what would have been President FW de Klerk’s 90th birthday. The Report Card aims to provide an independent assessment of the extent to which South Africans enjoy the rights and freedoms guaranteed in the Constitution.
“South Africa’s human‑rights picture remains mixed,” says Daniela Ellerbeck, an attorney and Manager of the FW de Klerk Foundation’s Constitutional Rights Programme. “The Report Card records severe pressure on rights to life and security, equality and socio‑economic entitlements – largely due to violent crime, Gender Based Violence and Femicide, failing water and sanitation and governance weaknesses. Simultaneously, it also notes improvements in dignity protections, anti‑trafficking enforcement, political rights administration and limited economic stabilisation.”
According to Christo van der Rheede, Executive Director of the Foundation, the Report Card also outlines more than 30 practical recommendations aimed at strengthening constitutional protections. “Our proposals focus on critical issues including crime and policing, equality and employment equity, youth unemployment and access to work opportunities,” he says. “These are practical and actionable structural reforms intended to improve the daily lives of South Africans and to reinforce the core values on which our constitutional democracy rests.”
A GUIDE ON WHO DOES WHAT IN LOCAL GOVERNMENT
A guide for citizens on who does what in local government
THE CCTSA WINS CULTURAL AWARD
The Centre for the Constitutional Transformation of South Africa (CCTSA) is delighted to announce that it was named winner of the Heritage, Memory and Identity category at this year’s Western Cape Cultural Affairs Awards, held in Cape Town on 9 September 2026. The CCTSA is dedicated to telling the story of South Africa’s constitutional journey. The awards, hosted annually by the Western Cape Government’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport, recognise individuals and organisations that make a meaningful contribution to the cultural, linguistic and heritage life of the province.
STATE CAPTURE IS HOLDING BACK SOUTH AFRICA
After Nelson Mandela was elected in 1994 his government abolished racially segregated local authorities, creating ostensibly integrated municipalities. Today these range in size from Johannesburg, the commercial capital, to units like Mpofana that comprise a small town and rural areas. All are supposed to fund themselves through property taxes, business rates and charges for water, electricity and waste collection. The poorest also get a grant from the central government to fill any gap between revenue and expenditure.