CONSTITUTIONAL COMMENTARY AND EVENTS
ARTICLES AND STATEMENTS
STATEMENT: MANDELA DAY 2019
This year the staff of the FW de Klerk Foundation and its Centre for Constitutional Rights (CFCR) again join the rest of the world in celebrating the life and legacy of former President Nelson Mandela.
The Foundation shares Madiba’s vision to spread social justice and freedom for all, and welcomes the opportunity be part of a Mandela Day – now in its 10th year.
Echoing the new Mandela Day strategy’s primary focus on collaborative partnerships, the FW de Klerk Foundation partners with several worthy organisations through its long-running Support for Charities Programme. These organisations include Autism Western Cape, Friends of Vista Nova, Innovation for the Blind, Iris House Children’s Hospice, the National Institute for the Deaf (NID), Salesian Life Choices and the Woodside Special Care Centre. All are committed to making a daily difference in the lives of persons with disabilities, and underprivileged youth. Thanks to the generosity of its funding partners, the Nedbank South African Charity Golf Day and the Maurice Hatter Foundation, the FW de Klerk Foundation is able to contribute to positive change in the lives of hundreds of South Africans.
ARTICLE: IS MILITARISING POLICING IN THE WESTERN CAPE THE ANSWER?
On 11 July President Cyril Ramaphosa approved the deployment of South African National Defence Force (SANDF) units to help the South African Police Service (SAPS) combat unacceptable levels of violence in the Cape Flats. The question is whether this action is appropriate and whether it will be effective.
There can be no doubt regarding the seriousness of the situation: 2 302 people were murdered in Cape Town during the first six months of 2019. This represents a murder rate of more than 100/100 000 – compared with 33/100 000 for South Africa and 6/100 000 for the world. This gives Cape Town one of the highest murder rates in the world.
This already deplorable situation was further exacerbated over the weekend of 5 and 6 July 2019, when 13 people were violently killed in the township of Philippi East, located in Cape Town’s notorious gang-ridden Cape Flats. Of those killed, six were women who were gunned down brutally at a residence in the Marcus Garvey area. Another three young people, between the ages of 17 and 25, were shot dead at a friend’s home. Following the spate of deaths, residents from Philippi East, most of them women, marched to the neighbourhood’s police station to demand more effective police action.
ARTICLE: WELL-FUNCTIONING MUNICIPALITIES – PART OF PRESIDENT RAMAPHOSA’S DREAM OR A NEVER-ENDING NIGHTMARE?
There were two eye-catching issues in the media this past week.
South Africa’s largest chicken producer, Astral, announced that its chicken plant in Standerton no longer receives sufficient water from the local Lekwa Municipality (Standerton). This plant is the largest on the continent and slaughters two million chickens weekly. In addition, Astral’s feed mill in Standerton is also the largest on the continent – one that was recently built at significant cost, following written assurances by the Municipality that sufficient water and electricity would be available. The reason for the lack of water supply to the largest employer in town? Ongoing poor maintenance of water infrastructure – pumps and pipe ducts – needed to pump water from the Vaal River 8 km away.
PODCASTS
SUBMISSIONS
SPEECHES
EVENTS
WORLD YOUTH SKILLS DAY: SOUTH AFRICA FAILS TO SKILL ITS YOUTH
“World Youth Skills Day” gives every nation the chance to evaluate how well its young are being prepared for the work environment of tomorrow. However, the basic education system in South Africa is not providing our young with a solid enough basis for future skill development.
CHALLENGES AND CONTROVERSIES SURROUNDING THE TERMINATION OF ZIMBABWEAN EXEMPTION PERMITS IN SOUTH AFRICA
On 5 January 2022, the Minister of Home Affairs abruptly withdrew the Zimbabwean Exemption Permits (ZEP). This decision triggered legal action and scrutiny over its validity and adherence to legal principles, particularly regarding the procedural fairness, constitutional rights, and treatment of refugees in the country. On 28 June 2023, the High Court found that the Minister’s decision was invalid, unconstitutional and unlawful
EPISODE 9: RELEASE OF MADIBA; FIRST MEETINGS WITH THE ANC; AND THE FIRST CODESA MEETING (1990 – 91)
In episode 9 of the FW de Klerk Foundation’s exclusive biographical videos on President FW de Klerk, viewers will learn about the events between February 1990 and December 1991.
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