18 November 2021 - Expropriation without Compensation has been one of the signature policy initiatives of President Ramaphosa’s government. This is ironic, given that he was welcomed as a generally pro-business ‘reformist’. It is a policy thrust that has come at a cost to South Africa’s investment attractiveness and economic prospects. This is certainly damaging, and it is hardly surprising that public debate has revolved primarily around these considerations.
Media
Every week we reach hundreds of thousands of people through placing arguments in the media in support of the principles we stand for. No other advocacy group in the country does as much as we do to promote support for policies that defend your right, and that of your community, to make decisions about your own life free from counter-productive government interference.
17 November 2021 - Last week Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana presented a three-year budget plan that somewhat pleased the markets. Higher than expected tax receipts, mainly the result of the rise in mineral prices, have helped improve government finances. And key fiscal ratios have improved with the upward rebasing of GDP, part of a regular statistical exercise on national accounts.
600 days of lockdown-fatigue – challenge to President Ramaphosa
17 November 2021 - On 27 March 2020 South Africa was locked down. This was presented as a three-week suspension of the liberal norm so that public health providers could “prepare” for the Covid-19 pandemic. 600 days of various lockdown levels have come and gone since then.
16 November 2021 - The government has said it is distancing itself from a decision by the Miss SA pageant organisers to participate in the annual Miss Universe contest due to be held next month in Israel.
IRR objects to yet another extension of the State of Disaster
16 November 2021 - Cogta Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma’s extension of the National State of Disaster to 15 December 2021 is harmful and contrary to the facts.
12 November 2021 - Among the many awards FW de Klerk received was one for political courage. It was probably the most appropriate of them all, and one that few political leaders deserve.
12 November 2021 - Many South Africans have been waiting, says incoming IRR CEO John Endres, for ‘a single mighty lion to bring down the old buffalo that is the ANC, together with its little calf, the EFF’. The great risk, however, is that this great lion may never appear. By contrast, the country now has a formidable pack of wild dogs that have already done much to harry the buffalo and put him on the run.
Civilian Police Secretariat postpones meeting on firearm legislation
12 November 2021 - The Civilian Police Secretariat (CPS) scheduled a stakeholder engagement for 11 and 12 November on the draft Firearm Amendment Bill, which would, inter alia, ban South Africans from owning guns for the purpose of self-defence. This webinar was postponed at the last minute.
IRR puts questions to Ramaphosa about the “Command Council”
11 November 2021 - The IRR’s attorneys have sent a letter to President Cyril Ramaphosa asking for clarity on the National Coronavirus Command Council (NCCC), which continues to act through the national State of Disaster that has been in place for over 600 days with no apparent parliamentary oversight.
11 November 2021 - Adriaan Basson ends his column on the Democratic Alliance's stated refusal to form coalitions with the African National Congress by saying: 'It is unclear how the DA will save South Africa by allowing the Economic Freedom Fighters to form a national governing coalition agreement with the ANC that could have devastating consequences for the country's future.'
10 November 2021 - I would like to add my bit to Institute of Race Relations (IRR) CEO Frans Cronje’s letter expanding on the thesis of a weary buffalo, namely the ANC, being taken down not by a lion but by a pack of wild dogs (“The dog pack can deliver sweeping reforms in 2024”, November 8).
New report: property rights are human rights – IRR
10 November 2021 - Property rights are human rights and need to be respected for that. They not only give people a legal and social recognition of their assets, but are an intrinsic part of maintaining a free society. This is the case globally and in Africa.