White South Africans have the highest quality of life
8 May 2017 – White South Africans have considerably higher quality of life than Coloured, Indian/Asian and Black South Africans, according to a Fast Facts report released today by the South African Institute of Race Relations (IRR). The report also shows that Gauteng and the Western Cape have a significantly higher quality of life than rural provinces.
Cyril Ramaphosa's call in his recent speech in Port Elizabeth for the appointment of a judicial commission of enquiry into allegations of state capture is a neat little blow against Jacob Zuma. But it is also a way of kicking the issue into touch.
Ferial Haffejee, editor of HuffPost SA, was at the BFLF conference where Malikane spoke. As she reports, his calls for nationalisation were enthusiastically applauded by those present. Yet the audience, as Haffejee writes, was not made up of ‘landless peasants’ or the ‘urban working poor’. Rather, it comprised ‘professionals, business owners, students, intellectuals and activists’, most of them well-dressed and seemingly well-heeled.
Freedom of expression and its narrow limitations is a constitutional principle which sits uncomfortably with many, if not the majority, of South Africans. Events inform us of how well freedom of expression in South Africa holds up under pressure. Either it does not hold up and we cave in to threats of violence and attempts to censor, alternatively it holds up, and we once again nudge the needle in favour of freedom. By GWEN NGWENYA.
Nigeria and South Africa, it is clear, must embark on devising strategies to slay their behemoths of intolerance with more urgency. Both countries need to come up with more effective policies to address these challenges. Denial and blame-shifting will only deepen the problems arising from intolerance, rather than fix them.
Speaking at his shareholders' meeting, Mr Froneman said that his company would be "very careful" with any further investment in South Africa until it was clear that mining had a future here. Sibanye, which is a major producer of gold and platinum, has previously shown an interest in buying coal mines. Asked whether his company was still interested in such purchases, Mr Froneman said that he did not see any company being able to make further investments until South Africa "gets its house in order".
There are times when some analysts and politicians behave as if avoiding recession is an achievement to be celebrated.
Everyone is now wondering what is meant by "radical economic transformation". Having frightened all the horses by his initial comments when he was appointed, the new finance minister seems to be avoiding the phrase in favour of "inclusive growth". Mr Cyril Ramaphosa says they are the same thing. Radical economic transformation could of course mean adopting policies to push our economic growth rate up to 6%, or 7%, or 8%, but there is little sign that such policies are on the agenda. In practice, "radical economic transformation" is simply a new term for the long-established policy of bringing about a national democratic revolution.
According to the African Development Bank, Africa has experienced huge declines both in the child mortality rate and deaths caused by HIV/AIDS-related diseases. This is a significant factor in Africa’s population growth
The Ingonyama Trust was established in 1994 in terms of an agreement between the outgoing National Party government and the administration of the KwaZulu homeland. Under this agreement, all customary land then owned by the KwaZulu administration became vested in the Ingonyama Trust, with the Zulu monarch as the sole trustee of this land.
The view that marches are pointless overlooks that they are a source of solidarity and ameliorate a sense of isolation from the government,
Many years ago South African Airways used to run an advertisement which stated, "We didn't invent flying, we just perfected it". A family in Saxonworld would be entitled to make a similar claim today: "We didn't invent state capture, we just perfected it."
Soft infrastructure flaws underpin lukewarm global competitiveness
13 April 2017 – Education and healthcare failings are adversely effecting South Africa’s competitiveness as an investment destination in a globalised world. This is according to a Fast Facts report released today by the South African Institute of Race Relations (IRR).
BEE is thus deterring direct investment and promoting capital flight. It is a key part of the reason economic growth has been negative in per capita terms for the past three years. In addition, far from empowering the disadvantaged, BEE helps only a small elite. This has once again been confirmed by a comprehensive opinion poll commissioned by the Institute of Race Relations (IRR) and carried out in September 2016
First immediate objective must be to force President Jacob Zuma from office in next Monday's parliamentary no-confidence vote. The likelihood is that the vote will fail. This will demonstrate yet again that the problem South Africa faces is not Mr Zuma himself but the fact that the African National Congress (ANC) has once again sustained him in power.
Tomorrow, 7 April 2017, thousands of South Africans will take to the streets to allegedly save South Africa and to defend our democracy. Save South Africa marks it as the day for “a massive people’s push” and goes further to add that “united public protest is the only way to stop further state capture and to defend our democracy”. Civil society groupings have echoed the likes of Equal Education in urging their members “to participate in all mass actions aimed at freeing our country and defending our democracy from the shackles of the Guptas and Jacob Zuma”. But its the ballot that holds the real power.
Mr Zuma is a consummate chess player and has accounted for this eventuality, and the analysts who say Mr Zuma will be removed by Parliament are likely to be wrong. We expect the ANC to put its immediate emphasis on unity, which means the party is unlikely to give its MPs the go-ahead for such a divisive move. Even if a dissident group did break away and join the opposition in voting Mr Zuma out, this would immediately see the Zuma-aligned speaker of parliament, Ms Baleka Mbete, take over the functions of the President. Mr Zuma would remain leader of the ANC and his party supporters would quickly purge those dissident MPs who voted him out. Witness the six seemingly-courageous senior party leaders who rolled over to
What explains the allegedly irrational decisions taken by the South African government over recent days? Two explanations suggest themselves. The first is that the decisions were not irrational, but part of a calculated power-play designed to further entrench the Zuma-aligned faction of the African National Congress (ANC). The second is that Mr Zuma took the decision to fire Pravin Gordhan under duress – and specifically Russian duress.
Rating downgrade risks triggering a series of economic setbacks for South Africa
3 April 2017 – The IRR says the decision this evening by S&P Global Ratings to cut South Africa’s long term foreign currency sovereign credit rating to speculative grade or ‘junk status’ risks triggering a series of economic setbacks that will affect the living standards of all South Africans directly.
Whether Jacob Zuma stays or goes, the empowerment challenge will remain
4 April 2017 – Whether President Jacob Zuma stays or goes in response to the public outcry over his firing of finance minister Pravin Gordhan is important for many issues, including the terms of any nuclear deal with Russia. However, it will have no impact on South Africa’s most pressing policy challenge of all – how to empower the disadvantaged, says the IRR in a new report published today.
By instituting formal disciplinary proceedings against Helen Zille, the federal executive of the Democratic Alliance (DA) has done more to bring "the good name of the party into disrepute" than Ms Zille's tweet about colonialism ever could. Ms Zille is guilty at the most of "thought crime", forerunner of the political correctness which has done so much to stifle debate in this country. Moreover, whatever the leadership of the DA might think, the debate s
BEE, together with employment equity and land reform, is supposed to be empowering the poor. But BEE, like other affirmative action programmes all around the world, helps only a relative elite: the most advantaged within the disadvantaged group.
Jacob Zuma has released a statement announcing sweeping changes to his cabinet
31 March 2017 – The most important change is that Malusi Gigaba has replaced Pravin Gordhan as Minister of Finance while Sfiso Buthelezi has been appointed as the Deputy Minister of Finance.
On 11th September last year under the headline "Damn right I want a downgrade!" this column suggested that that was exactly what President Jacob Zuma was aiming for. The certainty that dismissal of Pravin Gordhan from the finance ministry would cause an adverse reaction among international credit ratings agencies gave Mr Zuma reason to loathe them as agents of white monopoly capitalism.
The president is clearly reckless as to how much his vendetta against Mr Gordhan undermines the country’s growth prospects, pushes up the costs of servicing R2.2 trillion in public debt, or brings closer a ratings downgrade to junk status.
The IRR is deeply saddened by the passing of Ahmed Mohamed Kathrada
28 March 2017 – The IRR is deeply saddened by the passing of Ahmed Mohamed Kathrada this morning. Mr Kathrada made great sacrifices to defeat apartheid, and will be remembered for his warmth, courage and determination.
Invitation to IRR Media Briefing – EED is for real empowerment, whereas BEE has failed
28 March 2017 – BEE helps only a small ‘elite’. This has once again been confirmed by an IRR field survey which shows that almost 90% of people say they have drawn no benefit from BEE.
Gordhan recall may herald reshuffle, policy swings – IRR analysts
27 March 2017 – IRR analysts believe the move to be a political power play by factions of the African National Congress (ANC) aligned with the President, and what is loosely described as the Eastern Bloc of that party.
Along with Helen Zille, Dianne Kohler Barnard, and Chris Hart, I will no doubt be accused of thought-crime for saying so, but the recent decision of the Constitutional Court in the social grant case is something of a victory for the "white monopoly capitalism" the African National Congress (ANC) likes denouncing.
IRR Press Release: Contradictions reflect ideological splits within the ANC
27 March 2017 – Flashes of common sense bring out contradictions in the ANC's latest policy documents.
