Page 12 - Roelf Meyer News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

First published in the Daily Maverick 168 weekly newspaper. “Our democratic Constitution is the product of years of sacrifice and struggle. Many South Africans endured great pain and hardship, and many lost their lives, so that we could live in a democracy where all may enjoy equal rights. The values, principles and rights contained in the Constitution are neither trivial nor abstract.” – President Cyril Ramaphosa, President’s Newsletter, 22 February 2021. Somewhere there is a photograph of the ANC’s Cyril Ramaphosa and the National Party’s chief negotiator, Roelf Meyer, taking a ...

JUDITH FEBRUARY: SA’s electoral system is weakened by the lack of accountability opinion Given the daily dose of the Zondo commission into state capture and what seems like endless stories of the failure by government to deliver basic services, the accountability link between citizens and their public representatives appears to be seriously compromised. Political parties themselves also appear unable to muster the internal democratic capacity to hold their members to account as they should. We have also heard it said many times before: the South African electoral system does not provide a s...

In the light of the recent Constitutional Court judgement declaring the current Electoral Act unconstitutional, the Inclusive Society Institute (ISI) embarked on a process to design a potential new electoral model for South Africa. The institute appointed an expert panel, convened by Mr. Roelf Meyer, to undertake the work and mandated the panel to design an electoral model that will meaningfully give effect to the judgement, respect the boundaries set out in the Constitution, retain pro- portionality as a basis for representation in that it best promotes inclusivity, and which enhances represe...

Adobe Stock images; Globe staff illustration The storming of the US Capitol on January 6 revealed a country more deeply and dangerously divided than many understood. Thousands of the most ardent, radical, and violent supporters of Donald Trump attacked the seat of American democracy and sought to overthrow the results of the presidential election. These shocking acts of violence and insurrection, stoked by the commander in chief and supported by a large number of Republicans, would leave five Americans dead in its wake. During his inaugural address, President Biden said that “together we...

PREMIUM! NEW YORK, NY - OCTOBER 03: People hold a pro-Trump rally on October 3, 2020 in the borough of Staten Island in New York City. The event, which was organised weeks ago by the the Staten Island Republican Party, encouraged people to vote Republican and to pray for the health of President Donald Trump who fell ill with COVID-19. Stephanie Keith/Getty Images/AFP This week’s brazen storming of Capitol Hill – the United States’ seat of power – by throngs of right-wing Donald Trump supporters, had all the hallmark...