CONSTITUTIONAL COMMENTARY AND EVENTS

ARTICLES AND STATEMENTS

ARTICLE: THE EMPLOYMENT EQUITY ACT (EEA) AMENDMENT BILL, 2020 AND DEMOGRAPHIC REPRESENTIVITY

Apartheid illustrationFew people would disagree with the Employment Equity Act’s goals of “eliminating unfair discrimination in employment” and ensuring equitable access to the economy for all South Africans. We need an open, equitable and non-discriminatory economy.

However, in its pursuit of these goals the EEA has now become a core tool in the ANC’s project to reshape society and the economy according to demographic representivity (DR).  The ANC’s objective has long been to ensure that DR is achieved in the private sector to the same degree that it is already a reality in the public sector. As Rob Davis put it in 2012 “We need to make sure that in the country’s economy, control, ownership and leadership are reflective of the demographics of the society in the same way that the political space does.”

 

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ARTICLE: AFRIFORUM v UNISA: THE RIGHT TO EDUCATION IN THE LANGUAGE OF CHOICE

Apartheid illustration

The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) recently handed down a well-reasoned judgment that underscores a critical number of core principles insofar as language rights and education are concerned in South Africa.
 
The South African Constitution is very clear on language rights in public educational institutions – including universities and schools. Section 29(2) provides that ‘Everyone has the right to receive education in the official language or languages of their choice in public educational institutions where that education is reasonably practicable. In order to ensure the effective access to, and implementation of, this right, the state must consider all reasonable educational alternatives, including single medium institutions, taking into account:
 
(a) equity;

(b) practicability; and

(c) the need to redress the results of past racially discriminatory laws and practices.’
 
The above is also reinforced by other provisions pertaining to language rights in the Bill of Rights, for example, the right to use the language of one’s choice (Section 30) and that persons belonging to a cultural, religious or linguistic community may not be denied the right, with other members of that community, to enjoy and use their language (Section 31(1)(a)).
 
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ARTICLE: LITIGATION BY THE HELEN SUZMAN FOUNDATION REGARDING RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF THE COVID19 CRISIS

75 YEARS AFTER THE END OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR: PART I 1945‐1994The FW de Klerk foundation welcomes the Helen Suzman Foundation’s (HSF) application, direct to the Constitutional Court, to declare that Parliament, the President and the Cabinet have failed to fulfill their obligations under the Constitution to prepare and adopt legislation to regulate the state’s response to the threat posed by COVID19.

The HSF has asked the Court to direct the Cabinet and Parliament to prepare and adopt such legislation – and to declare that the powers that the Minister of Cooperative Governance has assumed under the Disaster Management Act to manage the crisis will be terminated as soon as the requested legislation has been adopted.

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PODCASTS

SUBMISSIONS

SPEECHES

EVENTS

BEHIND THE NATIONAL STATE ENTERPRISES BILL: A MISSED REVOLUTION

In September 2023, South Africa witnessed a watershed moment as the National State Enterprises Bill made its debut in the National Assembly. This milestone bore the promise of revitalising not only the country’s governance arena but, more importantly, its beleaguered state-owned enterprises (SOEs). However, this Bill’s initial allure as a harbinger of reform is, but a mirage.

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CONSTITUTIONAL ISSUES