CONSTITUTIONAL COMMENTARY AND EVENTS
ARTICLES AND STATEMENTS
PODCASTS
SUBMISSIONS
SPEECHES
EVENTS
ARTICLE: DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE OF EWC
President Ramaphosa’s late night statement of 31 July is now well-read and known. It has been criticised, lauded and discussed in detail. The issue of why the statement was delivered at that time, and whether there was a good reason to do it, despite the Parliamentary review process being ongoing, lies in the realm of political commentary. As a Foundation with a mission of protecting and promoting the Constitution, we must take the statement and its intention on face value and point out what its consequences are and could be. In the Foundation’s statement of 1 August we have already commented on the statement’s unacceptable procedure that undermined the parliamentary process and the independence of the SABC.
PUBLICATION: INDEX FOR MEASURING HUMAN RIGHTS IN SOUTH AFRICA
The Centre for Constitutional Rights’ Index for Measuring Human Rights in South Africa was developed to monitor the State’s compliance and observance of certain civil and political rights
The index was produced by the Centre for Constitutional Rights (CFCR), in cooperation with South African Institute for Advanced Constitutional, Public, Human Rights and International Law (SAIFAC), with project funding supplied by the Mergon Foundation.
STATEMENT: ANC PRESIDENT RAMAPHOSA’S LATE NIGHT ANNOUNCEMENT – IS THIS THE RIGHT WAY TO GO ABOUT SOMETHING SO IMPORTANT?
The FW de Klerk Foundation noted with grave concern the statement on expropriation without compensation (EWC), by ANC president Ramaphosa after the NEC Lekgotla last night. There are two main problems with the statement, procedurally and substantively.
Speaking as leader of a political party, he abused the platform of the national broadcaster to make a party-political announcement, as if it were an announcement as President of the country. This shows the same dangerous conflation of party and State as we have seen during the Zuma years. The statement also pre-empts the outcome and makes a mockery of the parliamentary process that is underway, as if the ANC is the only party in Parliament. The incidental reference to the “parliamentary process” does not hide the apparent disdain the majority party has for the Legislature and its processes. In addition, the announcement short-circuited the public hearings, thus rendering public participation in the legislative process obsolete. This means that any future amendments are open to a legal challenge on grounds of lack of procedural fairness.
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