Stamped out: the case for letting go of the SAPO
By Reuben Coetzer, Free SA spokesperson In South Africa, policy reform often arrives like a postmarked letter from the past—late, smudged, and slightly irrelevant by the time it reaches its destination. So it is with the recent call by the DA GNU Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies for public comment on the South African […]
Cutting the fiscal fat
By Reuben Coetzer, Free SA spokesperson If words were actions, South Africa would have the sleekest, most efficient government on the planet. Budget speeches and reform proposals promise leaner administration, cost-cutting, and a “capable state.” Yet, year after year, we remain burdened with an overstuffed executive and a civil service bloated with inefficiency. And yet […]
Derailing the gravy train
by Paul Maritz, Director at Free SA Quick question, dear reader: who, praytell, is the Minister in the Presidency for Women, Youth, and Persons with Disabilities? Or the Minister of Science, Technology, and Innovation? How about the Minister of Social Development? If you caught yourself hesitating, even just for a moment, don’t feel too bad […]
Paul Maritz: SA’s problem isn’t low wages, it’s no wages
by Paul Maritz, Director at Free SA The real minimum wage in SA isn’t R28.79 an hour — it’s zero. That’s the brutal reality for millions of unemployed South Africans, for whom the minimum wage is not a safeguard but a locked door keeping them out of the job market entirely. Instead of addressing this […]
Suid-Afrika se probleme is geen lone, nie lae lone nie
Deur Paul Maritz, Free SA direkteur Die minister van arbeid, Nomakhosazana Meth, het onlangs aangekondig dat die nasionale minimumloon verhoog sal word met 4,4%. Na afloop van hierdie verhoging, so spog haar party, is die nasionale minimumloon nou R28,79 per uur. Haar departement is egter verkeerd. Die werklike minimumloon in Suid-Afrika is nie R28,79 per […]
Die obsessie met grond, die werklikheid van geld en die oplossing
Deur Reuben Coetzer, woordvoerder vir Free SA Min onderwerpe wek soveel politieke emosie in Suid-Afrika soos grondhervorming. Die ANC dring daarop aan dat grond die mees fundamentele uitdaging en probleem van ons tyd is en dat radikale staatsinmenging en wetsontwerp nodig is om die foute van die verlede reg te stel. Dit is die regverdiging […]
The promise of 1994, the reality of 2025
By Reuben Coetzer, Free SA spokesperson Democratic South Africa’s constitutional dawn in 1994 was luminous with the promise of non-racialism, the promise of a future of hope for all South Africans. It was a radical departure from our segregated, hurtful past—a firm commitment to treating every citizen equally before the law and no longer based […]
Skip sonder ʼn roer
Deur Reuben Coetzer, woordvoerder vir Free SA Werkloosheid in Suid-Afrika is soos ʼn skip wat stadig sink terwyl die bemanning aanhou water uitskep met te klein emmers – waarskynlik ʼn spreekwoordelike Titanic, wat verdoem is tot ʼn sekerlike einde tensy drastiese ingryping plaasvind. Ja, die amptelike werkloosheidsyfer het in die vierde kwartaal van 2024 afgeneem […]
Onteiening: Kaptein Ahab jag steeds sy walvis
Deur Paul Maritz, Free SA direkteur Naby aan die einde van Herman Melville se 1851 meesterstuk, as dit vir almal aan boord duidelik geword het dat kaptein Ahab se obsessie met Moby Dick se dood tot hulle almal se einde gaan lei, skreeu sy eerste stuurman, Starbuck, vir hom: “Dit is nog nie te laat […]
The cobra on the counter: How another sin tax helps no one but the government
by Paul Maritz, Director at Free SA The South African government is currently considering further tax increases on alcoholic beverages, ostensibly to combat alcohol abuse. At first glance, this might seem like a logical and well-intended initiative. However, as with many simplistic solutions to complex problems, history has shown that so-called sin taxes are not […]
