CONSTITUTIONAL COMMENTARY AND EVENTS
ARTICLES AND STATEMENTS
THE FW DE KLERK FOUNDATION WELCOMES NATIONAL HEALTH ACT JUDGMENT
The FW de Klerk Foundation welcomes the Constitutional Court’s judgment yesterday declaring sections 36 to 40 of the National Health Act, 2003 are unconstitutional. The sections had required anyone establishing, or operating, a health facility or service to obtain a certificate of need proving, amongst other things, its necessity, alignment with state planning and contribution to equitable access to healthcare.
ELECTORAL COUNTDOWN AS JOHANNESBURG HANGS BY A THREAD
Johannesburg’s growing fiscal and governance crisis has become more than a municipal problem. It is now a constitutional and economic warning about what happens when political instability, infrastructure decay and financial mismanagement begin to hollow out local government. As South Africa approaches the 4 November 2026 local government elections, the future of Johannesburg may well become a referendum on whether democratic governance can still deliver stability, accountability and basic services.
FW DE KLERK FOUNDATION: SOUTH AFRICA NEEDS DIGITAL ACCESS LAW THAT MAKES SENSE
The FW de Klerk Foundation notes ICASA’s recent statement that, under the current Electronic Communications Act of 2005, full recognition of equity equivalent investment programmes in telecommunications would require legislative amendment. That position, coupled with Minister Solly Malatsi’s stated intention to pursue such amendments, reveals a deeper problem than a single regulatory dispute. It reveals a legal and policy disharmony that South Africa can no longer afford. As the country moves toward the 4 November 2026 local government elections, digital access is no longer peripheral. It bears directly on service delivery, public participation, education, local accountability and economic inclusion.
PODCASTS
SUBMISSIONS
DECODING THE GILAB: UNDERSTANDING THE DANGERS
Parliament is currently considering the General Intelligence Laws Amendment Bill which poses a significant threat to the rights and freedoms of South Africans.
CIVIL SOCIETY SHOULD NOT BE SPIED UPON
Today, Parliament heard the FW de Klerk Foundation’s oral submission on the General Intelligence Laws Amendment Bill (“the GILAB”).
GENERAL INTELLIGENCE LAWS AMENDMENT BILL ORAL SUBMISSION
GENERAL INTELLIGENCE LAWS AMENDMENT BILL ORAL SUBMISSION Click here to read the oral submission speech and here to view the accompanying slides.
SPEECHES
INTER-CULTURAL COMMUNICATION IN A GLOBALISING WORLD
SPEECH BY FORMER PRESIDENT F W DE KLERK TO THE SIXTH OLYMPIAD OF THE MIND: PARIS, 16 NOVEMBER 2000 “THE NEW COMMUNICATION CIVILISATION –
THE SEARCH FOR SPIRITUAL AND ETHICAL VALUES IN A MATERIALISTIC AND GLOBALISING WORLD
KEYNOTE SPEECH BY FORMER PRESIDENT F W DE KLERK TO FORUM 2000: 17 OCTOBER 2000, PRAGUE SPIRITUAL AND ETHICAL FOUNDATION OF THE GLOBALISED WORLD.
RESPONSE TO THE NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON RACISM
SPEECH BY F W DE KLERK 13 September 2000 RESPONSE TO THE NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON RACISM The recent National Conference on
EVENTS
LOCAL GOVERNMENT IS FAILING SOUTH AFRICANS – HERE IS HOW WE FIX IT
For millions of South Africans, the Constitution promises open, accountable and responsive government, dignity, equality and access to basic services like water. Yet for many communities, those promise collapses at local government level. Water taps run dry, refuse is not collected, potholes are permanent and corruption goes unpunished.
SECURING THE FOUNDATION OF PROSPERITY: WHY SOUTH AFRICA MUST EXPAND, NOT ABOLISH, PROPERTY RIGHTS
Three decades after South Africa’s transition to a non-racial democracy, the country’s unresolved land question remains one of its most volatile political and economic fault lines. Recently, calls to abolish private land ownership have resurfaced with renewed vigor. Promoted by political figures such as Mzwanele “Jimmy” Manyi and the uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP), this populist rhetoric advocates for the elimination of private property in favour of total state ownership or state trusteeship.
WHEN ANGER FINDS THE WRONG TARGET…XENOPHOBIC PROTESTS AND THE 2026 LOCAL GOVERNMENT ELECTIONS
South Africa’s local government elections are approaching at a time of real unemployment, service delivery and governance failures, but xenophobic mobilisation is directing public anger at the wrong target. The article argues that anti-immigrant protests undermine constitutional accountability by replacing demands for competent local government with scapegoating, fear and unlawful vigilantism. The FW de Klerk Foundation warns that South Africa’s genuine grievances must be resolved through the rule of law, democratic accountability and constitutional governance – not hostility toward vulnerable minorities.
CONSTITUTIONAL ISSUES
- Equality
- Non-racialism
- Gender Rights
- The Constitution
- The Rule of Law
- Multiparty Democracy
- Personal Rights
- Cultural, Religious and Language Rights
- Freedom of Expression and Political Rights
- Social and Economic Rights
- Property Rights
- Education
- Access To The Courts, Information And Fair Adminstration