Tag: Martin van Staden

When young Americans grow up, rarely do you hear them being excited about going to study in Europe when they leave school. Why would they be? They have world-class universities and immense opportunities at home. It is not uncommon, however, to speak to young South Africans who are keen to leave this country either for extended periods or indefinitely.

President Cyril Ramaphosa recently announced that sex work might soon be decriminalised. If true, it will mark the end of an era that will be remembered as a stain on our constitutional democracy. The right to be a sex worker is guaranteed in the Constitution, and the hereinto prohibition thereof has been the result of errant jurisprudence rather than a respect for the Rule of Law.

On Saturday 30 March, University of Cape Town (UCT) council members will vote on a controversial motion to restrict interaction between UCT and any Israeli academic institution. If adopted, not only would this be unconstitutional, discriminatory and flout the doctrine of academic freedom, it would be unlawful for certain members to have voted if they have previously been involved in actions relating to a boycott of Israeli institutions. 

Government’s push to water down the constitutional protection for property rights in South Africa by amending the Constitution should shock everyone of whatever race or socio-economic background. Every South African who owns property will be in jeopardy if the vital check of compensation is repealed.

Removing the right to compensation when expropriating property that is currently contained in section 25 of the Constitution, will be a lethal blow to the legitimacy and stability of our constitutional order if done under present conditions.

Discovery CEO Adrian Gore mentioned at the recent Leadership Summit that there is an element of 'declinism' - a pessimism about the state of one’s country - in South Africa, and that it did not accurately represent the situation facing our country.

The law is supposed to fulfil two important functions in society: protecting people’s persons and property, and conflict avoidance. When the law steps outside of these functions, the law itself becomes a source of conflict, as we have seen throughout history, especially in contemporary South African history.

South Africa and other societies spend untold millions on combating the scourge of corruption. Conferences are held on how to fight it more effectively and entire academic fields are dedicated to analysing it. We tend, however, to overthink and complicate corruption.

The Free Market Foundation (FMF) notes with concern a report on legislative performance that shows that Parliament has acquiesced to the executive branch of government substituting Parliament as law-maker and to giving it parliamentary rubber-stamps in recognition of its efforts.

Government’s 2016 ICT policy, and by extension the new Electronic Communications Amendment Bill, however, exacerbates the bad aspects of the ECA and then also introduces bad (and potentially bad, given the Bill’s ambiguity) new policies.