CONSTITUTIONAL COMMENTARY AND EVENTS
ARTICLES AND STATEMENTS
ARTICLE: PLAN B’S CRITICS LIVE IN LA-LA LAND
Almost all South Africans agree that our country is in a crisis. Most government departments are paralysed by incompetence, corruption and a culture of entitlement.
The state of the economy, education, health services, infrastructure and safety are at a low point. The evil triplets of poverty, unemployment and inequality are thriving.
Moreover, a well thought-out plan to “Africanise” society in the name of transformation is being applied relentlessly.
STATEMENT: BIRTHDAY WISHES FOR ARCHBISHOP TUTU
Former President FW de Klerk and the staff of the FW de Klerk Foundation and its Centre for Constitutional Rights (CFCR) would like to extend their congratulations and best wishes to Archbishop Desmond Tutu as he celebrates his 84th birthday.
ARTICLE: THE ANC’S NGC DOCUMENTS AND FOREIGN POLICY – SOUTH AFRICA’S NEW ANTI-WESTERN FOREIGN POLICY
The ANC must be congratulated for the care with which it prepares its members for important policy discussions of the kind that will soon be taking place at its 2015 National General Council. The NGC is the most important ANC meeting between National Conferences. It gives the organisation an opportunity to consider progress made with the implementation of policy since the preceding National Conference and to develop proposals for new policies at the next National Conference – which will take place at the end of 2017.
PODCASTS
SUBMISSIONS
SPEECHES
EVENTS
ARTICLE: HOW DOES THE SCORECARD FOR OUR HARD-PRESSED COUNTRY’S TURNAROUND LOOK?
It’s already old news that former President Zuma appeared before the Zondo Commission last week. He seemed to be suffering from severe amnesia, or have no opinion about most matters.
But in addition to this news, there is another question that most right-thinking and concerned South Africans are wrestling with, and which commentators reflect upon daily. Is President Ramaphosa winning the battle to turn the country around? Is he winning his battle to reform the country, and especially the State, to save it from the clutches of the Zuptas, to help the economy recover, and to set the country on a steady course?
ARTICLE: FLOUTING CONSTITUTIONAL DUTIES WILL NOT BE TOLERATED – CONSTITUTIONAL COURT UPHOLDS PUNITIVE COST ORDER AGAINST PUBLIC PROTECTOR: PUBLIC PROTECTOR V SOUTH AFRICAN RESERVE BANK
On Monday 22 July, the majority of the Constitutional Court, in a decisive judgment, upheld the personal cost order made against the Public Protector by the Pretoria High Court in ABSA Bank and Others v the Public Protector and Others (Bankorp High Court judgment). According to the Bankorp High Court judgment, the Public Protector was to be held personally liable for 15% of the legal costs of the South African Reserve Bank (SARB), on a punitive scale. This was because she did not “fully understand her constitutional duty to be impartial and to perform her functions without fear, favour and prejudice”. Further, there was a “reasonable apprehension” that she was “biased” in her investigations.
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.
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