CONSTITUTIONAL COMMENTARY AND EVENTS
ARTICLES AND STATEMENTS
ECONOMIC FREEDOM UNDER STRAIN: ACCESS TO WORK IN SOUTH AFRICA
The Constitution guarantees citizens the right to choose their trade, occupation or profession. However, the FW de Klerk Foundation’s latest Human Rights Report Card rated the enjoyment of this right as poor and deteriorating. Daniela Ellerbeck and Lusanda Mahkuntsu detail why in this article.
ACCESS TO JUSTICE IS ERODING – AND SOUTH AFRICANS ARE PAYING THE PRICE
Access to courts is a constitutional right to have disputes decided in a fair public hearing before a court or an independent tribunal. Yet, the FW de Klerk Foundation’s latest Human Rights Report Card warns that while the legal system looks robust on paper, the degree to which South Africans enjoy this right in their daily lives is unmistakably declining.
FW DE KLERK FOUNDATION WELCOMES US-IRAN CEASEFIRE
The FW de Klerk Foundation welcomes the US-Iran ceasefire as a critical step away from escalating conflict and toward a just, durable and peaceful resolution.
PODCASTS
SUBMISSIONS
ARTICLE: THE BRACKENFELL BOIL
Every now and then a boil appears on the 26-year-old face of the New South Africa. One such boil erupted on 6 October in Senekal – and another earlier this week at Brackenfell High School in the Cape. These ugly eruptions may reflect more than just a passing hormonal imbalance: they could indicate a deeper underlying toxicity that might threaten the whole body politic.
ARTICLE: THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT ORDERS PARLIAMENT TO INSTITUTE ELECTORAL REFORM
In an historic judgement yesterday, the Constitutional Court upheld the appeal of New Nation and others against the judgement last year of the Western Cape High Court regarding the right of individuals to stand as independent candidates in national and provincial elections. The Court declared that “the Electoral Act 73 of 1998 is unconstitutional to the extent that it requires that adult citizens may be elected to the National Assembly and Provincial Legislatures only through their membership of political parties.” It ordered Parliament to remedy this defect within the next 24 months – in time for the next national and provincial elections.
ARTICLE: TAKING STOCK AT THE BEGINNING OF PHASE III
Now that we are entering Phase III of the COVID19 lockdown process, this may be a good time to take stock.
We live in the strangest of times. The world’s great airports are idle. Hundreds of thousands of hotels have closed. Schools and universities are empty. Millions of restaurants are shut. Everywhere owners of small and medium-size businesses are wracking their brains and scraping the barrel of their resources to keep their doors open. Tens of millions throughout the world have lost their jobs – and tens of millions more are subsisting on greatly reduced wages.
SPEECHES
EVENTS
SOUTH AFRICA FINALLY HAS AN AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED STATES. NOW WHAT?
South Africa’s appointment of Roelf Meyer as ambassador to the United States marks more than a routine diplomatic posting – it signals the restoration of constitutional statecraft at a time of strained bilateral relations.
THE FW DE KLERK FOUNDATION CONGRATULATES ROELF MEYER ON HIS APPOINTMENT AS US AMBASSADOR
The FW de Klerk Foundation congratulates Roelf Meyer on his appointment as US Ambassador. In Roelf Meyer, the administration has found an individual who embodies the very essence of a “fit and proper” ambassador.
THE REAL COST OF THE IRAN WAR ON SOUTH AFRICA: FROM TEHRAN TO THE TILL
South Africans are already paying for the Iran war through higher fuel, transport and food costs, as global oil shocks are directly transmitted into a vulnerable, import-dependent economy.
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