CONSTITUTIONAL COMMENTARY AND EVENTS
ARTICLES AND STATEMENTS
ARTICLE: THE FUTURE OF AFRIKAANS AT UNIVERSITY LEVEL
Vladimir Lenin said that “when the time comes for us to hang the capitalists they will compete with one another to sell us the rope”. In the same manner, Afrikaners are playing a leading role in assisting the ANC to eclipse Afrikaans as a language of tuition at university level.
Most of those involved are decent and honourable people. Many of them profess a love for Afrikaans and are determined to continue to use it in their private lives.
STATEMENT: ROBBERY AT THE OFFICES OF THE HELEN SUZMAN FOUNDATION IN JOHANNESBURG
The FW de Klerk Foundation would like to express its deep concern over the robbery that occurred at the offices of the Helen Suzman Foundation (HSF) on Sunday, 20 March 2016.
According to media reports, two well-dressed men and a woman broke into the HSF’s offices after threatening a security guard with a firearm. The robbers stole 11 computers, a printer and documents belonging to the HSF.
Accordingly, there is every indication that the motive for the crime was to obtain information – rather than simply to steal office equipment.
STATEMENT: THE CURRENT THREAT TO SOUTH AFRICA’S CONSTITUTIONAL DEMOCRACY
The constitutional democracy that we South Africans established 22 years ago after so many years of division and conflict is experiencing a serious crisis.
President Zuma and his faction within the ANC are threatening the future of our democracy by seizing control of key state institutions primarily for the promotion of their own personal and political agendas. These institutions include the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), the Hawks and various branches of the security establishment. They are using these institutions to prosecute and intimidate opponents – outside and inside the ANC – who have had the courage to oppose and expose their unconstitutional activities.
PODCASTS
SUBMISSIONS
SPEECHES
EVENTS
COMMENTS BY FORMER PRESIDENT FW DE KLERK TO THE PANEL ON NUCLEAR WEAPONS
After so many decades of efforts to limit and eliminate nuclear weapons, it should be clear by now that none of the nuclear weapons states have the slightest intention of dispensing with their own nuclear weapons capability. There is, indeed, general agreement about the need to stop the proliferation of nuclear weapons – and nuclear weapons states may from time to time be willing to enter into agreements regarding the rationalisation of their nuclear weapons arsenals – but there is no indication that they are prepared to do much more than give lip service to the elimination of this fundamental threat to human existence.
SPEECH: RESPONSIBLE LEADERSHIP IN A RAPIDLY CHANGING WORLD
It is a great pleasure for me to address the youth delegates at this Nobel Peace Laureate Summit in Mérida.
I have no doubt that one of the central challenges that your generation will confront will be the management of the enormous changes that you will experience during your lifetimes.
ARTICLE: FIGHTING CORRUPTION – THE SPECIAL TRIBUNAL
On 9 July 2019, Advocate Andy Mothibi, head of the Special Investigating Unit (SIU), announced the establishment of a Special Tribunal by October 2019. The Tribunal’s purpose is to recoup money looted from the State, opening yet another chapter in South Africa’s fight against State capture and corruption.
Estimates on the amount of monies lost through corruption amount to R1.5 trillion over the past four years alone, according to media reports. Despite the many anti-corruption mechanisms in place already, recovery of the monies lost has proven extremely difficult. The recovery of small sums, if compared to the total sums lost, already appears as a cause for celebration. Just recently, for example, Justice Minister Ronald Lamola announced that the National Prosecuting Authority’s Asset Forfeiture Unit (AFU) had recovered R115.9 million in terms of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act during June and July of 2019. This includes State monies lost through fraud and corruption. In light of this situation, the Special Tribunal’s effectiveness in recovering State money will be key in determining how the government’s newest anti-corruption campaign will go down in history.
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