CONSTITUTIONAL COMMENTARY AND EVENTS

The FW de Klerk Foundation has taken note of the publication of the 2017 Mining Charter with a great deal of concern. On Friday, the shares of mining companies fell by an average of more than 5%. Some assess that as much as R50 billion was wiped off their market value.

The Government has a constitutional and legal responsibility to empower black South Africans and the Foundation supports this worthy goal. However, given who the Minister is, the long shadows cast over him via the #GuptaLeaks and his association with them, we wonder who the real intended beneficiaries are. Frankly, we are concerned that a Minister who is criminally liable and possibly dishonest, has the audacity to make such profound changes to one of the key economic pillars of the country, when the country is economically in dire straits. We cannot but suspect that he is serving the interest of the captors of SA Inc in the name of transformation. Apparently the ANC, who have requested an urgent meeting with Minister Zwane, have the same concern.

The FW de Klerk Foundation welcomes the decision of the Constitutional Court to order an investigation into the possibility of the Minister of Social Development’s (the Minister) personal liability for the costs of the social grants’ case. In a matter which nearly saw the livelihoods of 17 million South Africans dependent on social grants threatened due to the Minister’s failure to properly conduct her job, the personal costs order serves as a deterrent to other public officials who fall short of their oversight functions over government departments.

The Public Service Commission Annual Report for 2015/16 stated that the Office of the State Attorney, when litigating, loses as many as 70% of its cases. This figure speaks of ineffective, inefficient and uneconomic use of financial resources, in direct contradiction to the Constitution, which enshrines basic values and principles to undergird public administration.

The FW de Klerk Foundation recently made a submission to the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform on the Draft Regulation of Agricultural Land Holdings Bill (the Draft Bill).

The salient aspects of the Draft Bill are the introduction of ceilings regarding farm sizes, while limiting the ownership of agricultural land to South African citizens. Foreigners will only have leasehold rights, valid for a few years, over agricultural land.

That land reform is a constitutional imperative is a given. That the slow pace of land reform and ill thought-out policies frustrate the restorative justice intentions of the Constitution is also a given. However, this Draft Bill is irredeemably flawed and if implemented will further frustrate the progress of land reform.