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The Free Market Foundation, founded in 1975, is an independent public benefit organisation that promotes and fosters an open society, the rule of law, personal liberty, and economic and press freedom.

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Land expropriation without compensation: Lessons from Venezuela paint dire future

10 July 2020

A few years ago, the US Central Intelligence Agency declassified a document from the 1980s that recorded some of the jokes the Soviet Union citizens...

Mboweni’s national budget shows folly of a command economy

10 July 2020

This, to some extent, is unavoidable due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but we need to be careful because we face very high economic risks. The...

For each day of cigarette ban, South Africa loses 1.5 community clinics

10 July 2020

Appropriately, on the same day, Africa Check confirmed that the government is losing around R35 million per day in excise taxes for tobacco products. ...

FMF NEWSLETTER 09 July 2020

09 July 2020

Weekly newsletter...

Radical economic transformation to end poverty by being radically rational

08 July 2020

South Africans are entering a period of hardship like none we have seen before....

How Africa can bounce back from Covid-19

06 July 2020

How Africa can bounce back from Covid-19...

We need government, but we need civil society even more

03 July 2020

I was sitting at my desk when the whole world started shaking violently....

Media release: Free Market Foundation concerned about deterioration of freedom in Hong Kong

03 July 2020

Media release: Free Market Foundation concerned about deterioration of freedom in Hong Kong...

Gordhan vs Mboweni: The stage is set for the ultimate political showdown

01 July 2020

The plan, however, is more of a pipe dream than anything else. The political drama about to unfold would be majestic to behold if it...

Draconian lockdown forces hard choices

01 July 2020

The negative effects of South Africa's hard lockdown continue to reverberate through the economy and broader society. ...

Consumer rights

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For each day of cigarette ban, South Africa loses 1.5 community clinics

10 July 2020

Appropriately, on the same day, Africa Check confirmed that the government is losing around R35 million per day in excise taxes for tobacco products. ...

FMF CEO STATEMENT: On the declaration of the illegality of lockdown regulations

03 June 2020

FMF CEO STATEMENT: On the declaration of the illegality of lockdown regulations...

FMF CEO Statement: From which planet our lockdown tobacco law?

24 May 2020

CEO statement: From which planet our lockdown tobacco law?...

Media release: Signs that cigarette ban may last to level 1; it should be reversed immediately

22 May 2020

Media release: Signs that cigarette ban may last to level 1; it should be reversed immediately...

Why is profit so maligned when it is the result of consumers’ choice?

28 January 2020

Defending the idea of profit will, in these enlightened days, immediately split the room. If you follow politics in the US, watch how campaigners Bernie...

Economic freedom / Growth

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Mboweni’s national budget shows folly of a command economy

10 July 2020

This, to some extent, is unavoidable due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but we need to be careful because we face very high economic risks. The...

How Africa can bounce back from Covid-19

06 July 2020

How Africa can bounce back from Covid-19...

Media release: Free Market Foundation concerned about deterioration of freedom in Hong Kong

03 July 2020

Media release: Free Market Foundation concerned about deterioration of freedom in Hong Kong...

Gordhan vs Mboweni: The stage is set for the ultimate political showdown

01 July 2020

The plan, however, is more of a pipe dream than anything else. The political drama about to unfold would be majestic to behold if it...

Structural reform is necessary to repay the costs of the lockdown

26 June 2020

Structural reform is necessary to repay the costs of the lockdown...

Media release: Emergency Budget: Half of all revenue will go to public sector workers for "the important work (they) do"

25 June 2020

Emergency Budget: Half of all revenue will go to public sector workers for "the important work (they) do"...

High data prices? Don’t blame Vodacom and MTN

24 June 2020

High data prices? Don’t blame Vodacom and MTN...

Zero-based and cash budgeting should both be adopted by government

23 June 2020

Zero-based and cash budgeting should both be adopted by government...

Media release: Minister Tito Mboweni needs to go further than mere zero-based budgeting

23 June 2020

Minister Tito Mboweni needs to go further than mere zero-based budgeting...

From housing to education, this is what SAA's restructuring could buy for South Africans

18 June 2020

From housing to education, this is what SAA's restructuring could buy for South Africans...

Energy

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Eskom’s troubles laid bare

31 January 2020

Eskom is in trouble. It is drowning in debt and cannot meet the demand for electricity. ...

Submission on Eskom's Revenue Clearing Account Application, 2020

22 January 2020

The FMF's submission on Eskom's 2020 revenue clearing account application...

Necsa ruling highlights ministerial overreach

22 January 2020

On 15 January 2020 the remaining members of the Radebe appointed Necsa Board resigned citing a 'dysfunctional' relationship with Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe....

Eskom’s monopoly has caused loadshedding, sabotaged SA’s future

02 August 2019

The government’s conduct over the last century and more has led to the situation South Africa finds itself in today with regards to the provision...

Financial sector

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Our country can no longer afford foreign exchange controls

14 February 2020

In 1995, Finance Minister Trevor Manuel announced a five-year “phasing-out process” because as he said, “the rand is not under our control …”...

The simple reason why a state bank is unnecessary

25 September 2019

There’s nothing about South Africa that makes it impossible to start a successful business here. Nothing that is, except the government. ...

Where can we store our value?

10 September 2019

We save in order to spend in the future. To do this effectively, we need to know that our future spending power will be at...

Healthcare

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Time in lockdown has been wasted

10 June 2020

Time in lockdown has been wasted...

The Medical Aid Conundrum

21 May 2020

The Medical Aid Conundrum...

To tackle COVID-19 we need trade collaboration and innovation

18 May 2020

To tackle COVID-19 we need trade collaboration and innovation ...

Lessons from Spain: Covid-19 exposed the inefficiency of a National Health Service

07 May 2020

Lessons from Spain: Covid-19 exposed the inefficiency of a National Health Service...

Opinion: Nationalising healthcare to save lives in SA, a disastrous consideration

30 April 2020

Opinion: Nationalising healthcare to save lives in SA, a disastrous consideration...

Opinion: A call for strengthened private and public healthcare systems in time of COVID-19

28 April 2020

Opinion: A call for strengthened private and public healthcare systems in time of COVID-19...

Media release: World Intellectual Property Day: IP More Important Than Ever In The Age Of COVID-19

24 April 2020

Media release: World Intellectual Property Day: IP More Important Than Ever In The Age Of COVID-19...

Scrapping private health cover a violation of bill of rights

20 April 2020

Scrapping private health cover a violation of bill of rights...

Fake drugs negatively impact growing AMR trend

15 April 2020

Fake drugs negatively impact growing AMR trend...

The unknowns of National Health Insurance are exactly what we should be afraid of

11 March 2020

It was India’s late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi who once said, “Beware of ministers who can do nothing without money, and those who want to...

Labour

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Small businesses hit hard by national lockdown

17 April 2020

Small businesses hit hard by national lockdown...

Freer markets generate prosperity, especially for the poor

16 August 2019

Amid rising unemployment, the Congress of South African Trade Unions has called on the government to amend the Labour Relations Act to make it more...

First time in history – more than 10 million unemployed

07 August 2019

You cannot legislate people out of poverty. You cannot regulate jobs into existence....

Land reform

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Land expropriation without compensation: Lessons from Venezuela paint dire future

10 July 2020

A few years ago, the US Central Intelligence Agency declassified a document from the 1980s that recorded some of the jokes the Soviet Union citizens...

Letter: David Rakgase’s farm victory good news

05 June 2020

Letter: David Rakgase’s farm victory good news...

SA must look at the many horrific results of land expropriation without compensation

15 May 2020

SA must look at the many horrific results of land expropriation without compensation...

Land expropriation without compensation is an illusion that cannot lead to a better life

11 May 2020

Land expropriation without compensation is an illusion that cannot lead to a better life...

Lessons from Venezuela: Implosion started with land grabs

07 May 2020

Lessons from Venezuela: Implosion started with land grabs...

Letter to the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services; Appeal to raise the amounts for the purposes of Section 18(3) of the Administration of Estates Act, 1965 (Act no. 66 of 1965)

07 May 2020

Appeal to raise the amounts for the purposes of Section 18(3) of the Administration of Estates Act, 1965 (Act no. 66 of 1965) ...

South Africa considers legislation that would allow the state to seize any citizen’s property

06 April 2020

South Africa considers legislation that would allow the state to seize any citizen’s property...

Land expropriation in SA: A warning ignored, a society crumbling

11 March 2020

South African history demonstrates how bad a teacher history is....

Media release: Khaya Lam media release: 250 families in Phiritona, Free State, receive title deeds

27 February 2020

The Free Market Foundation’s (FMF) Khaya Lam Land Reform Project in partnership with the Ngwathe Municipality is proud to announce that 250 families of Phiritona...

Media release: EWC: Unnecessary for land reform, dangerous to the economy, disastrous for the poor

17 February 2020

Expropriation without compensation (EWC) is unnecessary for land reform, dangerous to the economy, and will be disastrous for the poor....