16 September 2022 – In this submission to the Department of Justice and Correctional Services on the Unlawful Entry on Premises Bill of 2022, the IRR warns that especially in the light of the already high number of land invasions – and the risk that these will escalate once the Expropriation Bill and the Land Court Bill come into operation – various serious deficiencies in this legislation require urgent attention.
Submissions on proposed legislation
21 June 2022 – In this submission to the National Coronavirus Command Council in support of the Proposal to Repeal National Health Act Regulations on the Critical Control Measures to contain the spread of COVID-19, the Institute of Race Relations endorses Health Minister Joe Phaahla’s call to lift the mask mandates, vaccine passes and capacity limits on gatherings.
15 June 2022 – In this submission to the Portfolio Committee on Basic Education on the Basic Education Laws Amendment Bill, the Institute of Race Relations recommends withdrawing some damaging amendments, and giving more time to evaluating the others, in order to the meet the primary objective of embracing real reforms aimed at effectively improving the quality of schooling.
9 June 2022 – In this Supplementary Submission, the Institute of Race Relations urges the Department of Social Development to withdraw the poorly drafted Draft Non-Profit Organisations Amendment Bill of 2021 and replace it with a single composite measure in due course.
1 June 2022 – More than 23 000 South Africans endorsed this Institute of Race Relations (IRR) petition urging President Cyril Ramaphosa to refer the Employment Equity Amendment Bill of 2020 back to the National Assembly for reconsideration on the grounds that the draft law is both substantively and procedurally unconstitutional.
27 May 2022 – In this submission to the Portfolio Committee on Environment, Forestry and Fisheries, the Institute of Race Relations argues that the Climate Change Bill of 2022 is unconstitutional, both procedurally and in terms of its substantive content, and warns that, if enacted, it will over-burden an already failing state and have many other adverse consequences, including exacerbating indoor pollution, crippling the economy, and pushing up already astronomical unemployment rates.
20 April 2022 - In this submission, the IRR sets out an explanation as to why Israel cannot be described as an “apartheid state”, with particular reference to the system and legislation of the uniquely South African form of discrimination and segregation.
11 April 2022 – In this submission to the National Treasury on the draft Preferential Procurement Regulations, the IRR argues that ratcheting up black economic empowerment and other ‘transformation’ policies will not help to overcome the poverty and joblessness that is the lot of truly disadvantaged South Africans.
1 April 2022 – In this submission to the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs on the Proposed Disaster Management Act Regulations, the IRR argues that there should be no further delay in ending the State of Disaster; that there can be no legal authority for extending disaster regulations once the state of disaster has ended; and that many of the Regulations proposed are irrational and hence unconstitutional.
29 March 2022 – In this oral presentation to the Portfolio Committee on Justice and Correctional Services on the Combating and Prevention of Hate Crimes and Hate Speech Bill of 2018, the IRR argues that the flaws in the Bill include hate speech provisions that are unconstitutional, and hate crime provisions that are unnecessary.
23 March 2022 – In this submission on the the Social Relief of Distress Procedure Manual under the Social Assistance Act of 2004, the IRR argues that oth the Manual and the Regulations (see the IRR’s 11 March 2022 submission on the Amended Regulations to the Social Assistance Act) should be abandoned until such time as a proper socio-economic impact assessment has been carried out and its results made available to the public.
11 March 2022 – In this submission on the Amended Regulations of 2022 to the Social Assistance Act of 2004, the IRR warns that if the Regulations are adopted in their current form, the fiscal cliff will draw closer, growth will wither further, public debt and interest payments will expand, unemployment will worsen, and the jobless poor are likely to become ever more dependent on shrinking social grants that cannot be maintained.