Latest from the IRR

White South Africans have the highest quality of life

8 May 2017 – White South Africans have considerably higher quality of life than Coloured, Indian/Asian and Black South Africans, according to a Fast Facts report released today by the South African Institute of Race Relations (IRR). The report also shows that Gauteng and the Western Cape have a significantly higher quality of life than rural provinces.

Are Malikane’s nationalisation pearls the jewels in Gigaba’s crown? - BizNews, 05 May 2017

Ferial Haffejee, editor of HuffPost SA, was at the BFLF conference where Malikane spoke. As she reports, his calls for nationalisation were enthusiastically applauded by those present. Yet the audience, as Haffejee writes, was not made up of ‘landless peasants’ or the ‘urban working poor’. Rather, it comprised ‘professionals, business owners, students, intellectuals and activists’, most of them well-dressed and seemingly well-heeled.

Why the IRR has decided to invite Flemming Rose - Daily Maverick, 05 May 2017

Freedom of expression and its narrow limitations is a constitutional principle which sits uncomfortably with many, if not the majority, of South Africans. Events inform us of how well freedom of expression in South Africa holds up under pressure. Either it does not hold up and we cave in to threats of violence and attempts to censor, alternatively it holds up, and we once again nudge the needle in favour of freedom. By GWEN NGWENYA.

An all too rare case of business leadership - Politicsweb, 01 May 2017

Speaking at his shareholders' meeting, Mr Froneman said that his company would be "very careful" with any further investment in South Africa until it was clear that mining had a future here. Sibanye, which is a major producer of gold and platinum, has previously shown an interest in buying coal mines. Asked whether his company was still interested in such purchases, Mr Froneman said that he did not see any company being able to make further investments until South Africa "gets its house in order".

The perilous state we’re in - Politicsweb, 24 April 2017

Everyone is now wondering what is meant by "radical economic transformation". Having frightened all the horses by his initial comments when he was appointed, the new finance minister seems to be avoiding the phrase in favour of "inclusive growth". Mr Cyril Ramaphosa says they are the same thing. Radical economic transformation could of course mean adopting policies to push our economic growth rate up to 6%, or 7%, or 8%, but there is little sign that such policies are on the agenda. In practice, "radical economic transformation" is simply a new term for the long-established policy of bringing about a national democratic revolution.

Soft infrastructure flaws underpin lukewarm global competitiveness

13 April 2017 – Education and healthcare failings are adversely effecting South Africa’s competitiveness as an investment destination in a globalised world. This is according to a Fast Facts report released today by the South African Institute of Race Relations (IRR).

Vouchers for public services would put power in the hands of the people - Business Day, 11 April 2017

BEE is thus deterring direct investment and promoting capital flight. It is a key part of the reason economic growth has been negative in per capita terms for the past three years. In addition, far from empowering the disadvantaged, BEE helps only a small elite. This has once again been confirmed by a comprehensive opinion poll commissioned by the Institute of Race Relations (IRR) and carried out in September 2016

Struggle stalwarts or paper tigers? - Politicsweb, 10 April 2017

First immediate objective must be to force President Jacob Zuma from office in next Monday's parliamentary no-confidence vote. The likelihood is that the vote will fail. This will demonstrate yet again that the problem South Africa faces is not Mr Zuma himself but the fact that the African National Congress (ANC) has once again sustained him in power.

When will South Africans learn that the ballot is mightier than the picket? - Daily Maverick, 06 April 2017

Tomorrow, 7 April 2017, thousands of South Africans will take to the streets to allegedly save South Africa and to defend our democracy. Save South Africa marks it as the day for “a massive people’s push” and goes further to add that “united public protest is the only way to stop further state capture and to defend our democracy”. Civil society groupings have echoed the likes of Equal Education in urging their members “to participate in all mass actions aimed at freeing our country and defending our democracy from the shackles of the Guptas and Jacob Zuma”. But its the ballot that holds the real power.

Rendering ‘Fort Zuma’ impregnable by mortgaging SA to Russia? - BizNews, 06 April 2017

Mr Zuma is a consummate chess player and has accounted for this eventuality, and the analysts who say Mr Zuma will be removed by Parliament are likely to be wrong. We expect the ANC to put its immediate emphasis on unity, which means the party is unlikely to give its MPs the go-ahead for such a divisive move. Even if a dissident group did break away and join the opposition in voting Mr Zuma out, this would immediately see the Zuma-aligned speaker of parliament, Ms Baleka Mbete, take over the functions of the President. Mr Zuma would remain leader of the ANC and his party supporters would quickly purge those dissident MPs who voted him out. Witness the six seemingly-courageous senior party leaders who rolled over to

Gordhan’s firing – why did it happen and what will happen next?

What explains the allegedly irrational decisions taken by the South African government over recent days? Two explanations suggest themselves. The first is that the decisions were not irrational, but part of a calculated power-play designed to further entrench the Zuma-aligned faction of the African National Congress (ANC). The second is that Mr Zuma took the decision to fire Pravin Gordhan under duress – and specifically Russian duress.

Whether Jacob Zuma stays or goes, the empowerment challenge will remain

4 April 2017 – Whether President Jacob Zuma stays or goes in response to the public outcry over his firing of finance minister Pravin Gordhan is important for many issues, including the terms of any nuclear deal with Russia. However, it will have no impact on South Africa’s most pressing policy challenge of all – how to empower the disadvantaged, says the IRR in a new report published today.

It's not Zille who's bringing the DA into disrepute - Politicsweb, 03 April 2017

By instituting formal disciplinary proceedings against Helen Zille, the federal executive of the Democratic Alliance (DA) has done more to bring "the good name of the party into disrepute" than Ms Zille's tweet about colonialism ever could. Ms Zille is guilty at the most of "thought crime", forerunner of the political correctness which has done so much to stifle debate in this country. Moreover, whatever the leadership of the DA might think, the debate s

Zuma: The ANC is now on trial - Politicsweb, 31 March 2017

On 11th September last year under the headline "Damn right I want a downgrade!" this column suggested that that was exactly what President Jacob Zuma was aiming for. The certainty that dismissal of Pravin Gordhan from the finance ministry would cause an adverse reaction among international credit ratings agencies gave Mr Zuma reason to loathe them as agents of white monopoly capitalism.

Derek Hanekom's pseudo-anti-racism - Politicsweb, 27 March 2017

Along with Helen Zille, Dianne Kohler Barnard, and Chris Hart, I will no doubt be accused of thought-crime for saying so, but the recent decision of the Constitutional Court in the social grant case is something of a victory for the "white monopoly capitalism" the African National Congress (ANC) likes denouncing.

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