Jobs summit must address ‘job-destroying’ EWC and minimum wage laws
4 October 2018 - As the government and other stakeholders sit down to address the employment crisis in South Africa, the job-destroying effects of the current expropriation debate need to feature. Job creation requires economic growth but growth requires investment
SA needs an alternative to the State-run schooling that is stunting our children’s future
22 May 2018 – This first edition of FreeFACTS, ‘Parents, not politicians, must run South Africa’s schools’ exposes the extent to which the State-run school system is stunting the development of South Africa’s children, especially black pupils, and argues for stronger parental and community control over schools .
Education Charter launched to endorse greater parental involvement in our failing schools
21 May 2018 - The Institute of Race Relations (IRR) today launches an Education Charter to give South Africans the opportunity to endorse greater parental involvement in schools as a first step to rescuing the education system from the grave crisis it is in.
Infant mortality rate at its lowest in almost two decades
16 May 2018 – South Africa’s infant mortality rate is at its lowest in almost two decades, having fallen by 32% between 2002 and 2017, according to data in the IRR’s latest South Africa Survey.
How Julius Malema destroyed the NPA’s case against Jacob Zuma in 365 days
10 May 2018 – The latest report from the IRR, ‘Year One: How Julius Malema destroyed the NPA’s case against Jacob Zuma in 365 days’ examines the primary role played by the then ANC Youth League leader in the destruction of the National Prosecuting Authority’s original case against former President Zuma.
8 May 2018 - If the government really wanted to establish black commercial farmers, this is what it would do. My colleagues who deal with agriculture and land reform have done some sums around livestock farming.
8 May 2018 - South Africa's deficient education system is the single greatest obstacle to socio-economic advancement, replicating rather than reversing patterns of unemployment, poverty, and inequality, and effectively denying the majority of young people the chance of a middle-class life.
7 May 2018 - President Cyril Ramaphosa has termed it the “original sin”. Land must be returned, deputy president David Mabuza adds, to its “rightful owners”. The Economic Freedom Fighters said on Human Rights Day that “until there is justice and equality in relation to land, until the dignity of black people is restored through access to land”, the humans rights project would be “incomplete”. Academic and public intellectual Nomboniso Gasa remarks revealingly: ‘Land is not just about land. It is a metaphor for freedom, belonging and security.
6 May 2018 - The said monster was the "disease" of anti-black racism that is supposedly to be found all over the country, supposedly typified by Vicky Momberg. Mr Makhanya said he found it hard to believe the IRR's finding that 77% of black respondents to a survey had said they had "never personally experienced racism". Where, he asked, did the IRR find these people?
3 May 2018 - Mantashe has decided to go back to court to contest the declaratory order obtained by the Chamber of Mines three weeks ago. Although that decision has been most widely reported for upholding the ‘once empowered always empowered principle’, Mantashe seems to be protesting a different aspect of the judgment – its assertion that the charter is not legally binding on mineral rights holders.
29 April 2018 - Mr Lamberti, who is stepping down from his position as chief executive of the group, was found by the Gauteng Local Division of the High Court to have impaired the dignity of Adila Chowan, a chartered accountant who was dismissed after complaining that Mr Lamberti had reneged on a promise to appoint her as a chief financial officer within the group.
Mining and the environment - SA needs new, more balanced approach
25 April 2018 – South Africa must revise its many and complex environmental regulations if it is to attain effective environmental protection, together with a thriving mining sector capable of boosting economic and social progress, according to the IRR’s latest @Liberty report.
23 April 2018 - President Ramaphosa made it clear in his statement that the investment conference planned for August or September this year would seek to involve both domestic and international investors
20 April 2018 - Parts 1 and 2 in August and September 2017 respectively looked at the campaign for the University of Cape Town (UCT) to boycott Israeli universities and the likely consequences for UCT if it succeeded (see here).
20 April 2018 - The DA’s statement, issued by DA leader Mmusi Maimane, made no mention of any of this, however. Instead, it focused rather on Kaunda’s liberation credentials.
19 April 2018 - The mining industry needs a minister who doesn’t fiddle or insist on micro-managing its every move
18 April 2018 - The current debate around expropriation without compensation (EWC) has been phrased in an idiom of land politics – the supposed imperative of the state taking more aggressive action to advance land and agrarian reform in an effort to secure justice for those who work the soil. For this reason, relatively little attention has been paid to what this could mean for other sectors of the economy. This is a mistake, because the epicentre of the EWC impact might well be found below the ground.
18 April 2018 - One of the big items at the box office next year is certain to be the live action remake of Disney's The Lion King.
Expropriation without Compensation puts investment envoys in impossible position
17 April 2018 - President Cyril Ramaphosa’s welcome initiative to dispatch a team of respected envoys to promote investment in South Africa stands to face constant frustration in light of the government’s plans to institute a policy of expropriation without compensation.
Residents of Gauteng metros least reliant on grants
16 April 2018 - Households in Gauteng’s three metropolitan areas rely less on social grants than those in the five metropolitan areas located in other provinces, according to data in the 2018 South Africa Survey.
16 April 2018 - The DA's explicit rejection at its recent federal congress in Pretoria of racial quotas is something liberals should applaud. Less deserving of applause is the resolution the congress adopted to introduce a "jobseekers' exemption certificate" should the DA ever come to power.
13 April 2018 - How much is enough? What do we need? When do our wants and ambitions become morally untenable? What is fair and equitable to all concerned? Can acquisition be justified against the backdrop of severe deprivation and extreme inequalities?
11 April 2018 - The majority judgment also cast doubt on the validity of the revised mining charter gazetted in 2010, as this was seemingly ultra vires (beyond the powers) of the mining minister under the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act (MPRDA) of 2002. It further ruled that a failure to comply with the mining charter – either as originally adopted in 2004, or as revised in 2010 – does not generally constitute an offence under the MPRDA.
Northern Cape records fastest-growing monthly rental rates
10 April 2018 - The Northern Cape’s average residential rental prices grew the fastest compared to other provinces between 2010 and 2016, according to data published in the 2018 South Africa Survey
Rethinking urban mobility to provide real choices and resources for all
06 April 2018 - Effective planning in South Africa’s metros must incorporate the everyday and often-changing needs, desires and decisions of ordinary people, according to the latest research report from the IRR, Rethinking Mobility – Spatial Planning that enables transportation and technology in South African Metros.
South Africa’s bloated and costly public service – a huge political and economic problem
04 April 2018 – The latest edition of Fast Facts, ‘The Public Sector Wage Bill: Slaying the Dragon’, from the Centre for Risk Analysis at the IRR, examines the costly political and economic ramifications of South Africa’s ballooning public service.
SA’s corruption perception worsens
29 March 2018 - South Africa’s ranking on the Corruption Perceptions Index dropped from 21 to 64 between 1995 and 2016, according to data in the 2018 edition of the IRR’s South Africa Survey
27 March 2018 - The summit on property rights to be convened jointly at the Gordon Institute of Business Science this week by groups including Parliament and the Nelson Mandela University is a farce.
27 March 2018 - Mondli Makhanya's critique of the IRR's research begins by acknowledging that current debates on joblessness and other vital issues are "laced with racial suspicion" and "riddled with myths, suppositions, and disdain for fact", all of which "makes it impossible to have rational conversations" ('Dear IRR, Racism is real').
Lies of the land – government’s deeply questionable Land Audit
27 March 2018 - Who Owns the Land? notes that aside from numerous errors in its texts and tables, the Audit does not support many of the claims that have been made.
