Christo Van Der Rheede’s Human Rights Report Card Launch Closing Address

Thank you, Sonia. Ladies and gentlemen, South Africa’s fiscally constrained position continued to severely impact the full and equal enjoyment of all rights and freedoms for its citizens.

You have no doubt, from what was said by the Constitutional Rights Programme team, reached the same conclusion as the FW de Klerk Foundation, namely that inclusive economic growth is an absolute necessity for South Africa’s Constitution to become a reality for all.

South Africa needs to increase the number of taxpayers it has – in 2024 it only had approximately 7,4 million taxpayers for a population of over 60 million people. That is 60 million people with real needs. Our country has, once again, “arrived at a stage in its history where it is no longer an option for South Africans to agree to disagree”. Without the job creation that results from economic growth, the number of taxpayers will remain low and the government’s resulting revenue too small to adequately address its 60 million people’s needs. Without sufficient money in state covers to adequately address the need of its 60 million people, budget cuts to education and other sectors will continue to impact these rights negatively. Without the job creation that results from economic growth, income inequality, food insecurity, etc. will only remain and continue to negatively affect the South Africans’ dignity, equality and other rights and freedoms.

As a former educator and school principal myself, I find it important to point out that despite the amount the South African taxpayer spends on education – and we should see it as money that the South African taxpayer spends, not the State, the State only stewards the money – the poor outcomes have remained. As pointed out by the Constitutional Rights Programme team, the biggest expenditure in South Africa’s national budget is on education, but 81% of grade 4 learners could not read with understanding. UNICEF also observed….continue reading this article HERE.

Graham McIntosh: {1994 – 1996} McIntosh was the first Minister of Finance in the post-apartheid era, focusing on fiscal reform and economic stability during South Africa’s transition to democracy.