South Africa’s transition to democracy was a brutal and violent era characterised by extraordinary political ruthlessness. This propensity for ruthlessness, which we believe still resides within South Africa’s politics, is the first of two insights around which this analysis will suggest where South Africa may now be headed. This report was released in Johannesburg in October 2016.
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.
@Liberty - Back to the drawing board on mining law
4 October 2016
When examining South Africa’s air quality, the media and activists focus too often on mining and industrial pollution and the liability of corporations and state-owned enterprises. While this scrutiny is not wrong, it loses sight of a problem that is not only more prevalent but much more difficult to solve: indoor air pollution. This report was released in Johannesburg in September 2016.
@Liberty - Privatisation or bust
20 September 2016 - Well-run companies are seldom in the news. They satisfy the needs of their customers, making profi ts as a result. Some of South Africa’s biggest state-owned companies are seldom out of the news, however.
The cash-strapped South African government needs to bring in more revenue but is reluctant overtly to raise the VAT rate, which would unleash a political storm. Instead, it is planning to raise some R10.5bn – half of what an increase in the VAT rate from 14% to 15% would yield – by introducing a 20% tax on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs). This report was released in Johannesburg in September 2016.
IRR analysts have shown that despite declining by approximately 50% since 1994 South Africa’s murder rate remains significantly higher than that of a series of most other societies.
@Liberty - ‘Re-imagining the mining industry’
16 August 2016 - The Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) says it wants to ‘re-imagine the mining industry’ and turn it into ‘a sun- rise one for 100 years to come’. It hopes to achieve this, in part at least, via the draft reviewed mining charter it unexpectedly unveiled in April 2016.
@Liberty – From land to farming: bringing land reform down to earth
26 May 2016 – South Africa needs to redesign its land reform policy to pay far more attention to the essential ingredients of entrepreneurship and training, says the Institute of Race Relations (IRR) in a paper published in Johannesburg this week.
The IRR has drafted a new economic recovery plan for South Africa called the National Growth Strategy (NGS).
@Liberty – BEE doesn't work, but EED would
6 April 2016 – Since 2013 the government has already ratcheted up its employment equity, black economic empowerment (BEE), and land reform policies in a host of ways. However, as an IRR field survey now shows, most South Africans (85%) gain nothing from these policies.
The Race Relations in South Africa – Reasons for Hope report has found that race relations in South Africa are in a good state. The report was based on a field survey commissioned by the IRR.
@Liberty – Climate change science and the climate change scare
24 November 2015 – “Our planet faces many environmental threats, such as over-fishing in our oceans and the devastation of wild animals in Africa. But man-made climate change is no threat at all,” writes engineer and energy expert Andrew Kenny in the latest issue of @Liberty, the policy bulletin of the IRR.