When South Africa transitioned into democracy in 1994, socio-economic conditions were disheartening, especially amongst Blacks. Nelson Mandela’s democratic government faced an enormous challenge in eradicating the legacy of apartheid and improving the lives of millions of South Africans.
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A few months ago Ms Zille quoted Nelson Mandela as having said that South Africa's understanding of the rule of law was part of our colonial heritage. Marian Tupy of the Cato Institute in Washington recalled that a one-time Indian prime minister, Manmohan Singh, said that the judiciary and legal system were among the great institutions derived from British-Indian administration.
By changing the methods that firms use to advise their clients, one of the obstacles to investor success can be largely overcome.
Companies fail, markets change and new industries come into being. There are always going to be negative consequences for some employees, while new opportunities arise for others. Unions must anticipate the change and not keep insisting that the world is flat.
The trouble is that it rang hollow following the official statement which spells out that the leader personally found Zille’s comments offensive and it was precisely because it was painful that the discussion had to be closed. As a result it is not clear which discussion should continue.
'The attitudes of those closest to us are our biggest threat. This means tackling our mores and customs'
Rape plague terrorises SA women, children – IRR report
13 June 2017 – More than 300 000 adult women reported being raped or sexually assaulted in South Africa over the past decade although the actual number is very much higher. This finding comes from the latest South Africa Survey published by the IRR last week.
A recent survey by Brunswick, a consultancy firm, showed that 37% of South Africans were positive about capitalism. Given the rhetoric berating "white monopoly capitalism" this seems a high proportion. On the other hand, it chimes with surveys by the Institute of Race Relations showing that most people have more important things to worry about, especially unemployment.
Half a million South Africans murdered, children hard-hit – new IRR report
8 June 2017 – Almost 500 000 South Africans have been murdered since 1994. This is one finding from the 2017 South Africa Survey released by the IRR this week.
Metros work with private operators to deliver broadband, but law keeps provinces in the cold
In a debate the goal of critical thinkers, let’s call them ‘public intellectuals’, and politicians must differ in one singularly important aspect: concerns about style and form belong to the politicians; substance must be the terrain of the public intellectual. Leave the politicians to worry about how the debate is spun in their favour, and the intelligentsia must worry about the integrity of the content of the debate. Max Du Preez’s article titled, “Dear Helen, please call it off” subordinates substance to expedience, an act that is nearly always shameful for a public intellectual, but sometimes necessary for a politician.
Backyard shacks top list of chosen rental housing – IRR
7 June 2017 – Households renting backyard informal dwellings have increased in number, yet those that reside in rented flats have seen a decrease over a period of a year.
The most chilling threat was the statement that it was ‘“mobilising” its members, who would be “combat ready”
This policy was adopted before the ANC came to power, and has been implemented incrementally since 1994 via a series of racial preferencing laws. Proposed amendments to the mining charter to increase black ownership from 26% to 30% are just the next step. So are all the latest land reform-proposals.
Scenario planner and CEO of the IRR, Frans Cronje, has just released his second book on South Africa’s future, titled a Time Traveller’s Guide to South Africa in 2030. Rian Malan asked him about the book and about South Africa’s future.
Aside from a universal basic income, a sound way to safeguard a basic level of income for the greatest number of people is to ensure they can be productive participants in the economy by ensuring access to quality education to a minimum level of completion
New IRR report says South Africa’s politicians need new policy focus on cancer
1 June 2017 – The IRR has released a report on the extent to which cancer and other non-communicable diseases affect South Africans. The report was released to coincide with National Cancer Survivors Day this coming Sunday, 4 June 2017.
It may indeed be. However, another interpretation of the available evidence is that Zuma remains able to outmanoeuvre his critics and may yet exploit the ANC’s pursuit of year-end unity to put in place an infrastructure that secures his legacy for many years to come.
The committee should consider the impact of Piketty’s tax proposals, as modelled in 2014 for the US economy by Dr Michael Schuyler of the Tax Foundation in Washington DC.
Newly published scenarios explain whether South Africa’s rainbow nation ideal will survive the next decade
30 May 2017 – A new set of scenarios explaining how South Africa’s long-term future will unfold has been released in the form of a book titled A Time Traveller’s Guide to South Africa in 2030.
These giant vessels have played a major role in one of the great success stories of recent years, enabling production of various goods to be relocated from rich to poor countries. As a result, hundreds of millions of people in China and elsewhere in East Asia have been able to start working themselves out of poverty - so much so that rising wages in some of these countries have caused production to be shifted to even poorer places, such as Vietnam.
Free trade: A blessing reviled
25 May 2017 – In a paper released in Johannesburg today, the IRR said that trade liberalisation had helped to lift hundreds of millions of people out of poverty. "To finally conquer poverty across the globe," further trade liberalisation was an absolutely essential condition.
Amid economic and political volatility, a series of books forecasts a range of scary and not-so scary possibilities
None of these proposed laws is new. However, the government is now due to assess comments on the ceilings and processing bills received by deadlines that expired last week; draft regulations on valuation procedures are open for public comment until 19 June.
Contrary to what some analysts have reported, Malusi Gigaba has not clearly countered the views of his leftist adviser, Chris Malikane
This formula is to be found in draft regulations recently gazetted by Mr Nkwinti under the Property Valuation Act of 2014, which took effect on 1st August 2014. Under this Act, the Valuer General – a state official appointed by the minister – is responsible for ‘determining’ the value of all property identified for ‘land reform’ purposes.
Mr Rose, at the time an editor on a Danish newspaper, Jyllands-Posten, sprang from obscurity to global notoriety in 2005 when he published a cartoon of the Muslim prophet Mohamed with a bomb in his turban. He did so not as an act of provocation, but because he been shocked at the self-censorship in the Danish press and wanted both to highlight this and to take a stand against it. He did not foresee the outrage his action would cause, let alone that it would necessitate having to employ bodyguards even today.
Your report calls for "harsh penalties". Firms are referred to as "offenders". Calls are made to delist "noncompliant" companies from the stock exchange. Employers that don’t meet racial quotas are referred to as "intransigent".
It has been a year since South Africans dejectedly went to the 2029 polls in what independent observers widely regard as a rigged set of elections. An all-powerful, and once popular, socialist government has destroyed South Africa's democracy. The economy continues its decline and no end appears in sight to the hell that South Africans have lived through over the past decade.
Sun glints off the tin roofs of a nearby shack settlement, home of the boy lying in the dust at our feet. Between us and his parents’ shack is a vast sunflower field owned by Pieter Karsten, a leading farmer and businessman in the town of Coligny.