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.
Reports
Below is chronological listing of the reports we have released in support of our campaigns and advocacy efforts to defend your right to make decisions about your own life free from unnecessary government or political interference and counter-productive policy.
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.
FreeFACTS - April 2022
1 June 2022 - This edition of our monthly bulletin looks at inflation trends in South Africa. It acknowledges that inflation has been generally kept under control in post-apartheid South Africa but strong inflationary pressures are brewing.
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.
Most South African Youth will not find work: What can be done to avoid a mounting disaster
19 May 2022 - This Special Report looks at structural youth unemployment in South Africa. It finds that most people aged 24 – 34 are not in employment, education or training (NEET), and that most teens are doomed to a similar fate unless structural obstacles are removed. Three practical, positive steps forward are recommended.
FreeFACTS - March 2022
25 April 2022 - This edition of FreeFACTS looks at trends regarding investment in South Africa. For South Africa to become a prosperous country it needs high levels of investment, which it is simply not receiving now.
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.
FreeFACTS - February 2022
16 April 2022 - The latest edition of FreeFACTS looks at unemployment. The figures make for sobering reader and show that unemployment in South Africa is nothing short of a crisis. In parts of the country more than 50% of people have no work. This issue warns that something must be done soon.
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.