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FMF NEWSLETTER 19 February 2020

20 February 2020

Weekly newsletter...

Business rescue: Politicians must familiarise themselves with the law

19 February 2020

Certain senior politicians seem to have a misapprehension of how business rescue works in South Africa, particularly as it regards the situation at South African...

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....

Why the NHI is bad medice for South Africa

14 February 2020

That there is a need to improve healthcare outcomes in South Africa is entirely obvious. Given the horrendous statistics I have shared above, there is...

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 basic conditions which all markets need to succeed

14 February 2020

Planning is what every person does daily. There is no exception: even informal living and trading areas, and taxi ranks are planned....

FMF NEWSLETTER 12 February 2020

14 February 2020

Weekly newsletter...

‘Monopolisation’ is misunderstood and freedom of contract infringed in sports rights broadcasting

12 February 2020

Proposed government interference in the pay TV market is a violation of the freedom of contract, which is not only critical in the commercial world,...

The worrying escalation of land expropriation without compensation

07 February 2020

Giving the executive, rather than the courts, the power to decide when seizing property without paying for it is fair does not serve the quest...

Submission on Constitution Eighteenth Amendment Bill, 2019

07 February 2020

The FMF's submission on the EWC Amendment to the Constitution....

Consumer rights

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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...

Why the outrage over sugar tax job losses? Or, “we told you so.”

20 February 2019

The Sunday Tribune reports that as many as 350,000 jobs are at stake in the industries reliant on sugar. ...

Economic freedom / Growth

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The basic conditions which all markets need to succeed

14 February 2020

Planning is what every person does daily. There is no exception: even informal living and trading areas, and taxi ranks are planned....

Production and savings are what drives an economy

05 February 2020

The South African economy is facing a savings crisis. Citizens cannot afford to save enough money to drive the necessary capital generation for investment because...

The West’s role in Africa’s day of the locust

04 February 2020

Two weeks ago a Boeing 737 on final approach to Dire Dawa, Ethiopia, flew into a massive cloud of locusts swarming above the airport. ...

We don’t want to die poor: that’s how creatives feel about pending copyright changes

03 February 2020

An impending move by the US to end some international trade preferences will inflict major damage on SA’s economy and creative industries, including publishing....

We need less, not more, government intervention in the economy

29 January 2020

Government intervention in the economy simply does not work. It is a mystery, then, why so many otherwise intelligent people keep calling for more of...

My 2020 advice to Cyril Ramaphosa

06 January 2020

As we enter 2020, I remind you again that South Africa’s economy under Cyril Ramaphosa’s African National Congress (ANC) is in a serious crisis. Anybody...

New or higher taxes won’t work, and could be unconstitutional

11 December 2019

The trade union federation Cosatu recently called for tax increases, particularly on the wealthy, to arrest South Africa’s economic down spiral....

Competition Commission retail inquiry does not stand up to scrutiny

06 December 2019

The Competition Commission released its report on the South African retail sector, specifically on how exclusive agreements between the “big” retailers and property developers inhibit...

Icasa presents a hackneyed solution to a problem it hasn’t identified

27 November 2019

Creating regulations out of vague and indeterminate descriptions. ...

Icasa and Competition Commission have collusion confusion

25 November 2019

The Competition Commission and the Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa) have tripped over each other trying to regulate the same thing: MultiChoice-DStv, its content...

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...

Carbon tax may be noble but it will add to SA’s woes

14 June 2019

President Cyril Ramaphosa has signed the Carbon Tax Act into law. This new tax will be imposed on South Africans from June 1 2019....

Renewable energy is a disaster and will collapse SA’s electricity supply system

26 April 2019

South Africa is lurching towards another electricity disaster to make the Eskom disaster even worse....

Misdiagnosis means Eskom’s problems will persist

11 March 2019

If you counted every hair on your head, that amount probably will not add up to the amount of times you have read and heard...

Government must take steps to unbundle Eskom

04 March 2019

Should government continue to dominate energy supply as is proposed in the government's latest declared plans? ...

Government stealth tax to fund ailing Eskom

27 February 2019

Officially, for the 2019/20 financial year, government will not be increasing income taxes....

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...

Finance bill delegates huge legislative power to unelected people

07 May 2019

The Treasury wants parliament to give up large swathes of its lawmaking power in favour of a handful of unelected appointees....

Healthcare

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Why the NHI is bad medice for South Africa

14 February 2020

That there is a need to improve healthcare outcomes in South Africa is entirely obvious. Given the horrendous statistics I have shared above, there is...

2020 – A healthcare upturn unlikely

28 January 2020

2019 brought with it a host of healthcare policy decisions, which aimed to stabilise the South African healthcare sector, promoting sustainability....

Media release: Banning private health insurance denies citizens access to quality healthcare

22 January 2020

Hundreds of thousands of people will be stripped of their cover. The entirely predictable consequence is an increased burden on an already over-stretched public healthcare...

NHI will add to SA’s fiscal and healthcare woes

15 January 2020

Speaking in KwaZulu-Natal on New Year’s Day, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said that the National Health Insurance (NHI) will put private and public hospitals on...

Government intent on destroying private health insurance to pave the way for NHI

10 January 2020

JOHANNESBURG – With the recent announcement by the Council for Medical Schemes (CMS) that no Low-Cost Benefit Options (LCBO) will be allowed for low-income consumers...

Removal of low-cost health plans prejudices low income workers

17 December 2019

Last week the Council for Medical Schemes published Circular 80 of 2019, which bans low cost benefit options....

Media release: Government is intent on destroying private health insurance to pave the way for its NHI scheme

10 December 2019

With last week’s announcement by the Council for Medical Schemes (CMS) that no Low-Cost Benefit Options (LCBO) will be allowed for low-income consumers and no...

How will the NHI Impact the Private Health Sector?

05 December 2019

A short trip down memory lane tells us that when the 1st draft of the Demarcation Regulations (DR) was published in 2012 it effectively banned...

How other countries manage universal health coverage

05 December 2019

The National Health Insurance (NHI) roadshow of public hearings by parliament’s health committee kicked off in KwaZulu-Natal on November 22 and is expected to roll...

Proposed NHI throws constitutional caution to the wind

02 December 2019

Manifested primarily in the 2019 National Health Insurance Bill and the 2017 National Health Insurance (NHI) White Paper, the NHI, by relegating medical scheme coverage...

Labour

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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....

More businesses closing, urgent reform required

12 June 2019

Stats SA’s April Statistics of Liquidations and Insolvencies paint a very grim picture. The number of business liquidations increased by 53.1% between April 2018 and...

Minimum Wage: A crime against the poor

29 May 2019

The National Minimum Wage (NMW) is a crime against the poor of this country as it absolutely forbids them from accepting any compensation below the...

Unemployment blight can be alleviated with the correct remedy

15 May 2019

Stats SA recently announced South Africa’s unemployment rate has increased to 27.6%. The expanded rate increased to 38%, which translates to 9,994,000 unemployed people. ...

Workers’ Day means nothing to many people – a consequence of SA’s laws

10 May 2019

May 1 marked the latest iteration of Workers’ Day, a yearly public holiday in South Africa....

Prohibiting prostitution is unconstitutional

17 April 2019

President Cyril Ramaphosa recently announced that sex work might soon be decriminalised. ...

The idea that labour and capital have divergent interests is wrong

02 April 2019

You cannot produce anything without capital....

Land reform

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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....

The worrying escalation of land expropriation without compensation

07 February 2020

Giving the executive, rather than the courts, the power to decide when seizing property without paying for it is fair does not serve the quest...

Bantustan Act threatens hard-won property rights for rural dwellers

17 January 2020

Once again, traditional leadership in South Africa is being tested as the proposed legislation seeks to perpetuate rural dwellers’ insecurity of land rights....

Expropriation without compensation will kill SA’s investment potential

06 January 2020

Land expropriation without compensation is the perfect recipe for economic disaster. ...

The benefits of informal housing

25 December 2019

There is an assumption on the part of urban central planners that informal housing projects are static slums. This is not true....

The State wants to take your house and pay you nothing

18 December 2019

At a time when South Africa’s economy is flatlining and Eskom is failing, Government has proposed an amendment to the Bill of Rights, which will...

Media release: Historic land titling event in Alex, Johannesburg

10 December 2019

The Free Market Foundation (FMF) is delighted that, after many years of heroic activism for land restitution by Alexandra (Alex) township property claimants, supported by...

Media release: Historic transfer of 132 title deeds in Stellenbosch thanks to the Municipality, Johann Rupert and the FMF

27 November 2019

On 21 November, at the historic Stellenbosch Town Hall, the municipality hosted a momentous occasion during which Dr Johann Rupert and his wife Gaynor presented...

Media release: Provincial Human Settlements Minister Tertius Simmers participates in Khaya Lam Grabouw title deeds presentation

24 October 2019

On 22 October 2019, Western Cape Provincial Minister of Human Settlements, Tertius Simmers, took part in the Free Market Foundation (FMF) Khaya Lam (my home)...

Without strong property rights, an African free trade area is meaningless

21 October 2019

President Cyril Ramaphosa is getting more vocal about his support for the new African Continental Free Trade Area....

Rule of law / Law

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Business rescue: Politicians must familiarise themselves with the law

19 February 2020

Certain senior politicians seem to have a misapprehension of how business rescue works in South Africa, particularly as it regards the situation at South African...

‘Monopolisation’ is misunderstood and freedom of contract infringed in sports rights broadcasting

12 February 2020

Proposed government interference in the pay TV market is a violation of the freedom of contract, which is not only critical in the commercial world,...

Icasa’s pay-TV ‘musts’ make for daft twaddle

16 October 2019

The Independent Communications Authority of SA’s (Icasa’s) draft sports broadcasting regulations are such incoherent babble that they should be called “daft regulations”....

SA mining industry decimated by regulatory uncertainty

10 October 2019

Parliament should review the minerals and mining legislation and regulations as a first step towards having its members meet their obligations under the oath they...

Icasa sports regulations pose a threat to constitutionalism

04 October 2019

Constitutionalists have long cringed at the mention of “public interest” or “national interest” because of their inherent vagueness. Whatever government does or politicians or officials...

Legislation by regulation undermines economic freedom

03 October 2019

The recently published Economic Freedom of the World (EFW) annual report demonstrates that economic freedom produces prosperity, something South Africa urgently requires in abundance....

Constitution errs in tipping the scales in favour of expropriation

02 August 2019

The rule of law is the law of laws. Although the constitution gives explicit recognition to the rule of law, it has a separate authority...

How government creates a problem and fixes it at taxpayers’ expense

26 July 2019

We’ve seen it many times: government introduces a tax or regulation which has undesirable consequences....

If our salvation depends on personalities, we are in trouble

10 July 2019

By hanging the fate of South Africa on the shoulders of people like Cyril Ramaphosa and Busisiwe Mkhwebane, we are setting ourselves up for failure....

Nationalising the profession, controlling how lawyers think: This is troubling

05 July 2019

There are two troubling recent developments in the legal community that stand to undermine the rule of law and the strength of civil society....

Transformation

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Prosperity and tolerance

11 September 2019

Of late I’ve seen more discussion on the idea that slavery made America prosperous....

Unions: Friend or foe of the poor?

31 July 2019

Labour unions are undoubtedly the biggest obstacle to any positive reform, not because this particular group of individuals is somehow more evil than the rest...

Population bugaboo

25 July 2019

The Population Media Center is pushing the overpopulation panic again—that’s so 1960s! They proclaim, “If somebody tries to tell you that population growth is ‘slowing...

SONA: Big (pipe)dreams, no detail

21 June 2019

President Cyril Ramaphosa delivered his second State of the Nation Address (SONA) on 20 June....

SA’s youth need a free future to flourish

19 June 2019

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...

Cut spending and corruption, or get used to tax shortfalls

08 April 2019

The South African Revenue Service is again moaning about its latest shortfall in tax collection. It collected R1.28 trillion instead of the projected R1.3 trillion...

Is there anything to celebrate this Human Rights Day?

02 April 2019

What, exactly, are we celebrating on Human Rights Day this year?...

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