@Liberty - The NHI Proposal: Risking lives for no good reason
12 December 2016
It is now just over 21 years since the Constitutional Court abolished the death penalty. It did so at a time when opinion polls showed that most South Africans supported capital punishment. Although there is now little public debate on the issue, some people believe such abolition was a luxury South Africa could not afford. Others believe the death sentence should be reinstated and have asked the Institute of Race Relations (IRR) to review the question of capital punishment. This report was released in Johannesburg in November 2016.
In our politically correct era, we hang on the words and actions of young people with too much knowledge and too little wisdom. The consequence is a society retreating into fear and loathing. This report was released in Johannesburg in November 2016.
This report is about the things that have gone right in South Africa. It features a selection of the socio-economic successes we have achieved as a country and the many ways in which life has become better. Some people will think it an odd time to release such a report. The context is one in which the economy is not performing strongly. Too many people are unemployed. There is a great deal of corruption. Violent protests are commonplace. Questions are being asked about the future of South Africa’s democracy. This report was released in Johannesburg in November 2016.
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.
@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.