SA government marches towards fiscal cliff
30 January 2015 – A Fast Facts report released by the IRR found that despite taking a larger and larger chunk of the proceeds of the hard work of ordinary South Africans, the government is running out of money. Only higher levels of economic growth can save it from the approaching fiscal cliff.
IRR report into police criminality – ‘The wolf guards the sheep’
28 January 2015 – The IRR, in conjunction with Afriforum, today released results of an investigation into the extent to which police officers in South Africa plan and execute serious and violent crimes such as murder, rape, and armed robbery. The report is part of the Broken Blue Line, a research project undertaken by the IRR since 2011 to track police involvement in criminality.
South Africa must reform to retain its ‘moderately free’ ranking
27 January 2015 – South Africa has the 72nd freest economy out of 178 countries, according to the 2015 Index of Economic Freedom published today by the Washington DC-based Heritage Foundation. Hong Kong, Singapore, and New Zealand have the most free economies in the world, while Venezuela, Cuba, and North Korea have the least free.
With all the excitement in oil markets, it’s easy to forget about other primary industries, like the mining industry that plays such a crucial role in the economy of South Africa. In this piece, Dr Anthea Jeffery of the IRR talks us through the latest policy developments in the mining sector, and how they have the potential to negatively affect the already-struggling industry. It’s sobering to think how quickly bad policy can eviscerate such a long-lived sector.
Will the ANC dump Zuma? Until it does so, it is unlikely to reinvent itself.
In the first edition of this column we set out four scenarios for South Africa the morning after its 2024 election. This month we reveal the key indicators to identify which of those diverse futures is coming into view.
Die IVR se toptien voorspellings oor wat om in 2015 van Suid-Afrika te verwag.
Indien die regering nie beleidsbesluite neem om regstellende aksie en swart ekonomiese bemagtiging af te skaf, eiendomsreg te beskerm en die arbeidsmark te dereguleer nie, daar geen moontlikheid is dat hy die beleggings kan verkry om die nodige ekonomiese vooruitgang te bewerkstellig nie.
Intellectual attack helped to erode the foundations of apartheid. It is beginning to erode the foundations of the racial and other policies pursued by the African National Congress. That is better news for the born-frees than policies that relegate them to perpetual disadvantage.
Gauteng is the best province to live in
29 December 2014 – The key finding is that, on aggregate, Gauteng is the best province in South Africa to live in, followed, in descending order, by the Western Cape, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, the Free State, the North West and the Northern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, and the Eastern Cape.
’n Verslag wat in Oktober deur die Instituut vir Rasseverhoudinge (IRV) uitgereik is, maak dit duidelik dat Suid-Afrika steeds met ’n verskriklike misdaadaanslag te kampe het.
Mark Oppenheimer and Cecelia Kok present an alternative to race-based affirmative action.
South Africa has a moral obligation to address the wrongs of the past, but a race-based policy of affirmative action is an unjust and ineffective way of trying to achieve redress.
Destroy accountability and you destroy one of the two most important reasons for Parliament to exist, the other the passing of legislation.
Balance is a prized quality in all our affairs. Including a nation’s trade. Being too heavily exposed one way or another exposes vulnerabilities that incentivise mischief. In this fascinating insight, Frans Cronje of the Institute of Race Relations dives into details of South Africa’s trade account with individual countries to expose some disturbing trends. In the process, reminding us of the realities which should be shaping the country’s diplomatic policy.
Mark Oppenheimer and Cecelia Kok write that race is no longer an accurate proxy for disadvantage.
Trade report reveals South Africa’s export and manufacturing weaknesses
27 November 2014 – The key finding is to highlight the uncompetitive nature of the South African economy, and that policy reforms to boost manufacturing and export competitiveness seem the only way to reverse significant trade deficits.
THREE weeks from Monday is the 100th anniversary of the declaration of war against Germany by the UK. A little more than seven weeks from Monday is the 75th anniversary of the UK’s declaration of war against Germany.
Time to consider new models of affirmative action
26 November 2014 – There is a need for a non-racial form of affirmative action in employment instead of the present race-based system.
Frans Cronje responds to Barney Pityana's article in the Sunday Independent.
This column, a new initiative between Moneyweb and the IRR, has been conceived to provide theories to where South Africa could be headed. It will track the country’s progress monthly against the scenarios set out above and speculate as to which of the four futures is coming into view.
If patent rights are abrogated by the DTI, local innovators will have yet more reason to follow South African-born Mark Shuttleworth and Elon Musk in deciding to live, work – and innovate – abroad.
The crumbling of the Cosatu comes not a moment too soon. In a way this is a pity, because the union movement that gave birth to Cosatu and other unions wrote one of the most inspiring chapters of SA’s history in the apartheid era.
Jasson Urbach warns that a weak patent regime can act as a significant deterrent for innovative companies seeking to invest.
Protecting patents protects patients and promotes prosperity
12 November 2014 – The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is busily pressing ahead with damaging changes to patent law, writes Jasson Urbach, a director of the Free Market Foundation.
A report released by the IRR this week tracks crime, violence, policing, and justice trends for South Africa on an international, national, and provincial level over the past 20 years. It makes for a sober read about a country whose people confront an extraordinary criminal onslaught.
Law and (dis)order
6 November 2014 – Crime in South Africa: The number of very violent robberies has increased, as has the number of arrests. However, the number of convictions is falling. Therefore, many perpetrators are arrested but not convicted
Perhaps the most interesting — and possibly prescient — comment on Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene’s recent medium-term budget policy statement was that of the chief whip of the EFF, Floyd Shivambu. He expressed the fear that once nonstrategic state assets had been sold, the government would do the same with strategic ones. This, he said, was why the EFF opposed any form of privatisation.
The SA Institute of Race Relations released a report last week tracking long-term crime trends internationally, nationally and provincially against the policing, private security and justice resources employed by South Africans to fight crime.
IRR backs minister on youth housing policy
30 October 2014 – The IRR supports the view of the Minister of Human Settlements, Lindiwe Sisulu, that free housing should only be directed at the elderly and the indigent and that young people should be required to work to provide their own housing.
