It's official, former Western Cape Premier, Helen Zille, has officially joined the South African Institute of Race Relations! She joins the team as a Senior Policy Fellow and analyst, and will be writing regularly for the IRR, especially under The Daily Friend.
Campaigns
While the IRR spends every day fighting for the principles we stand for, we also run a series of focused campaigns aimed at pressuring political leaders to introduce desperately needed policy changes.
In 2010 the IRR began to take interest in media reports along the lines that ‘people in police uniforms’ or ‘in vehicles with police markings’ had committed serious and violent crimes. There was a great number of these reports but the police would routinely deny that their members were involved instead suggesting that such crimes were being committed by ‘fake policemen’. Unconvinced we decided to investigate what was going on.
The collective amount that South Africans have saved up for their pensions is big. About 16 million South Africans are members of retirement funds (with about 11 million still working and saving, the remainder having already retired). At the end of 2016, the total value of South African retirement funds was R4-trillion. This is nearly equivalent to the total size of South Africa’s economy (which is R4.4 trillion). In addition, this pot of retirement savings is the biggest in Africa, and one of the biggest in the world.
Despite what some politicians, activist-journalists, radio talk show hosts, and others would have you believe, racism is not South Africa’s biggest problem. IRR research shows that the great majority of South Africans respect each other and want to work together to build a better country.
The government is looking to change the way South Africans receive healthcare by implementing National Health Insurance (NHI). All South Africans are entitled to decent levels of healthcare but the new proposals by the government will severely damage the current healthcare system. Endorse the IRR’s submission to Parliament by clicking here. On the right hand side of the page read our research to see how NHI will damage South Africa’s healthcare system.
The cost of petrol is rising much quicker than inflation and this is primarily because of the taxes that we have to pay for each litre. By reducing government wastage, corruption, and privatising companies owned by the state we can reduce these taxes. We can also reduce these taxes by implementing policies which lead to economic growth – this will result in more tax revenue for the government as well as reduce unemployment. Endorse the IRR’s solution and help us fight the wastage of your tax money.
The government is threatening to take away your property rights. The implications are severe and will stunt South Africa’s economy and undermine its democracy. We are fighting hard to stop the dilution of property rights and need your help. Don’t wait until it is too late. Get involved now, join us, and endorse our letter to President Cyril Ramaphosa to make sure that your voice is heard.
Schools with greater parental involvement do better than those where parents are less involved. This campaign has seen us advocate for more parental involvement, through giving more power to school governing bodies, along with a number of other policy interventions. Read our policy documents and writing on the media around this issue.