CONSTITUTIONAL COMMENTARY AND EVENTS
ARTICLES AND STATEMENTS
2024 IN THE REARVIEW MIRROR PART 2 – KEY BUDGETARY & SOCIAL CHANGES THAT IMPACTED OUR RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS
Daniela Ellerback outlines the broad societal development that affected South Africans’ constitutional rights and freedoms during 2024 in a series of articles. This second article considers the budgetary and social developments.
THE FULL AND EQUAL ENJOYMENT OF ALL RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS: THOUGHTS FROM THE 2024 HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT CARD
Daniela Ellerbeck considers developments relating to section 9 of the Constitution – the right to equality – as outlined in the FW de Klerk Foundation’s 2024 Human Rights Report, with a specific focus on gender equality in the workplace.
SAFEGUARDING THE RIGHT TO A HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT: REFLECTIONS FROM THE 2024 HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT CARD
Daniela Ellerbeck reflects on the FW de Klerk Foundation’s 2024 Human Rights Report Card and recent developments regarding section 24 of the Constitution – the right to an environment that is not harmful to a person’s health or well-being (including future generations).
PODCASTS
SUBMISSIONS
ARTICLE: THE ORIGINS, INTENTIONS AND CONSEQUENCES OF THE EXPROPRIATION BILL
There should be no doubt about origins, intentions and consequences of the Expropriation Bill that President Zuma is about to sign into law.
The Bill has its origins deep in the ANC’s National Democratic Revolution (NDR) which calls for “the elimination of apartheid property relations”. This, according to the ANC, will require “the redistribution of wealth and income to benefit society as a whole, especially the poor” – and in particular “the deracialisation of ownership and control of wealth, including land…” In 2007 the ANC stated that “the central task in the current period is the eradication of the socio-economic legacy of apartheid; and this will remain so for many years to come.”
ARTICLE: AFRICA DAY – WHO REALLY HAS THE BIGGEST ECONOMY?
Much has recently been made of reports that Egypt has overtaken South Africa as Africa’s second largest economy and that we have now slipped to third place – with Nigeria in first place. All this has added to South Africa’s sense of national decline – after having prided ourselves for so long as being in an unassailable position as the continent’s largest economy. Commentators must now console South Africans with the reassurance that we are still the most “highly industrialised” economy in Africa.
The relative size of economies is generally measured by assessing their Gross Domestic Products on a PPP (Purchasing Power Parity) basis – which irons out kinks caused by the differences between official exchange rates and the actual purchasing power of the currencies involved.
ARTICLE: JUDGE JANSEN, THE CULTURE OF RAPE AND RACISM
The hapless Judge Mabel Jansen’s recently exposed comments on social media that black South Africans have a culture of rape were crass and offensive. Jansen commented inter alia that she had “yet to meet a black girl who was not raped by the age of 12” and that in black culture “a woman is there to pleasure them. Period. It is seen as an absolute right and a woman’s consent is not required.”
SPEECHES
EVENTS
NOTHING WORKS ANYMORE: MRS. DE KLERK’S CRY FOR SOUTH AFRICA
Elita de Klerk recently sat down with Lelethu Shayi on his podcast “Conversations with Lelethu” to discuss her personal history, President FW de Klerk, the FW de Klerk Foundation’s decision to withdraw from the national dialogue and the current state of South Africa.
FW DE KLERK FOUNDATION WELCOMES SPECIAL TRIBUNAL RULING ON UNLAWFUL R167,9 MILLION TENDER AWARD
The FW de Klerk Foundation welcomes the Special Tribunal’s ruling declaring unlawful and invalid Mogalakwena Local Municipality’s award of a R167,9 million tender to Easyway.
FW DE KLERK FOUNDATION EXPRESSES DEEP CONCERN OVER ESCALATING VIOLENT LAWLESSNESS
South Africa is reeling from brazen violence that has reached into our courts, municipalities and offices. The FW de Klerk Foundation urges President Ramaphosa, the Minister of Justice and the Minister of Police to lead a whole-of-state offensive against assassination markets, extortion rackets and gang capture.
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