Latest news with #NationalConstitution
Scoop
20-06-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
Bougainville And Papua New Guinea Struggle To Find Common Ground
The Bougainville Attorney-General says the autonomous region and the Papua New Guinea government may sign an agreement on the way ahead in their push for independence next week. A week of talks at Burnham Camp in New Zealand last week failed to produce a political agreement on implementing implement the outcome of the 2019 Bougainville Referendum. However, further talks, again mediated by former New Zealand Governor-General Sir Jerry Mateparae, are scheduled to go ahead next week. Ezekiel Masatt told the Post-Courier that Bougainville "firmly rejected" PNG's renewed proposals for "free association" and "confederation". He added that the talks cannot progress constructively until the PNG government is willing to openly pronounce the word "independence." Bougainville put forward what it called a "Melanesian Solution" with the autonomous region being granted some sovereign powers immediately. Former Papua New Guinea MP, Sir John Kaputin, has called for the leaders of PNG to listen to Bougainville, and for the leaders of Bougainville to be serious about their duties on behalf of their people. Sir John was closely involved in the cease fire in Bougainville in 1998, after being appointed the special State negotiator by Sir Rabbie Namaliu. He has told the Post Courier this week that "It's a two-way thing that leaders of Bougainville must be serious about their leadership among our people and it's up for the National Government to listen to what they are proposing." he said. Former PNG chief secretary Isaac Lupari has called for caution on Bougainville's push for independence. He pointed out that the national constitution does not allow for any part of the country to secede. Lupari is quoted in the Post-Courier saying "the pathway for determining Bougainville's future is enshrined in our National Constitution which makes it clear that the decision-making authority in relation to the Bougainville referendum results rests with the National Parliament."
IOL News
28-05-2025
- Politics
- IOL News
Race classifications won't fix the injustices of the past, De Klerk Foundation tells Ramaphosa
President Cyril Ramaphosa has clarified the government's position on race classification. Image: GCIS President Cyril Ramaphosa's clarifying of government's position on race-based terminology in official records has ignited debate over the country's progress in redressing the injustices of the past. He said that while the long-term goal was to create a society where people were not divided by historical race, the use of such classifications remained a difficult but necessary part of the country's transition from its apartheid past to a future of equality. The President was responding to questions from members of the National Assembly, particularly the Patriotic Alliance's Marlon Daniels, who asked why coloured, Indian, Khoisan and white people were not classified as African. In a statement released on Tuesday night, the FW de Klerk Foundation said Ramaphosa's utterances in Parliament raised questions about his commitment to the National Constitution's vision of a non-racial society. 'The continued use of race classification in various laws promulgated over time, serves no purpose other than using it for political patronage and electoral support purposes,' the foundation said. 'The outcome of chasing ethnic or racial targets at the expense of expertise has had disastrous consequences at all levels of government, state-owned enterprises, and especially on service delivery at municipal level, in schools, hospitals and so many other public institutions,' it added. 'And it is the poorest of the poor, the black majority, that suffers.' Christo van der Rheede, Executive Director of the FW de Klerk Foundation, said that alternative ways of overcoming the legacies of the past should be explored, and that government should devise a new system balancing the need for redress with merit. He suggested using a diverse and data-driven range of instruments to determine the social status of citizens. Government should also prioritise mentoring and learnership programs that primarily target economically and educationally disadvantaged people. Furthermore, skills, expertise, and the ability to deliver should be the determining factors in appointing people to critical government positions. 'Reverting back to outdated, divisive and humiliating race-classifications and the use of employment equity targets do not help at all to overcome the injustices of the past. In fact, the past thirty years have proved that such blunt instruments do more harm than good,' Van der Rheede said. 'Any society that builds a future on ethnicity or skin colour is doomed to fail.' He added that the country was currently bleeding talent, which if leveraged, could have greatly contributed to overcoming the legacies of the past. In Parliament, Ramaphosa said that until South Africa had reached its goal of equality for all people, there would be circumstances when we need to use such terminology. He said the country's national statistics agency, Stats SA, continues to use racial categories such as Black African, Coloured, Indian/Asian, and White in the census and other reporting. 'Our responsibility is to ensure that these terms ultimately make the differences they refer to less and less important, until they are rendered meaningless and no longer serve any purpose,' Ramaphosa said. Get your news on the go, click here to join the IOL News WhatsApp channel IOL Politics
The South African
06-05-2025
- Politics
- The South African
ANC slams DA for challenging Employment Equity Amendment Act
The African National Congress (ANC) says the Democratic Alliance (DA) court challenge to the Employment Equity Amendment Act reveals the party's enduring opposition to redress and equality. The DA is challenging the piece of legislation at the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria, where it argues that it discriminates unfairly and unconstitutionally. Ahead of the court case, the DA said that while Section 9.2 of the Constitution allows fair discrimination to achieve redress, such 'discrimination' has to meet the benchmark of fairness set out in Section 9, and the EEAA falls far short of this benchmark. The party said it is grossly unfair and gives totalitarian powers of social engineering to the Minister of Labour, who will be able to set rigid national targets for every economic sector, without any regard to the context of specific firms, and impose extremely heavy fines and the risk of criminal conviction for failure to meet them. 'This can no longer be classified as a target. It amounts to an enabling law for the Minister to set rigid quotas, which have previously been found by our courts to be unconstitutional. If this law is enacted, for example, people belonging to a specific group concentrated in a geographical area could face exclusion from employment based on national quotas set by the Minister,' the party's federal chairperson, Helen Zille, said. Zille said the Blue Party is committed to redress for the millions of South Africans who remain economically excluded due to the legacy of the country's painful past. 'We believe the most effective form of redress is a job. The ANC's Employment Equity regime continues the bitter legacy of the past because it is one of the key factors driving our country's skyrocketing unemployment rate.' In response to the court challenge, the ANC said the DA's decision seeks to undermine the Employment Equity Amendment Act and is not only an affront to the National Constitution, but a direct assault on the very foundation of South Africa's transformation journey. The former ruling party said the DA's campaign to label the piece of legislation as 'anti-merit' is a wilful distortion of reality. 'It ignores the brutal legacy of apartheid, which for centuries denied Black South Africans the right to land, quality education, employment, and dignity. In such a context, talking about 'merit' without transformation is an insult to the millions who remain excluded,' the ANC said. 'The Employment Equity Act is not about quotas. It is about injustice. It is about correcting structural imbalances in the economy and ensuring that all South Africans have a fair shot at opportunity. Section 15A does not eliminate merit, it creates the conditions in which merit can be meaningfully pursued by addressing the glaring underrepresentation of Africans, Coloured, and Indian South Africans in key sectors of the economy. This is a constitutional imperative, not a political favour,' the party added. Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1. Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X, and Bluesky for the latest news.
Euronews
30-01-2025
- Politics
- Euronews
Milei's plan to strike femicide from penal code sparks backlash in Argentina
Argentina is planning to remove femicide from its penal code, the administration of President Javier Milei has said, dealing another blow to women's rights in the country. Justice Minister Mariano Cúneo Libarona announced recently that the government intends to push a reform through Congress to eliminate the legal concept of femicide. "This administration defends equality before the law enshrined in our National Constitution," Cúneo Libarona wrote on X. "No life is worth more than another." Femicide — the murder of a woman by a man because of her gender — was added to Argentina's penal code as a specific offence in 2012, and is punishable with a life sentence. However, the number of femicides has remained high since then, according to women's rights campaigners, with hundreds of such killings reported each year. About 295 femicides were recorded last year, compared to 322 in 2023 and 242 in 2022, according to data from the Femicide Observatory of the National Ombudsman's Office. "Eliminating femicide as a legal category would put women and girls at greater risk," Mariela Belski, Amnesty Argentina's executive director, wrote on X on Wednesday. Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos last week, Milei criticised "the sinister agenda of wokeism" and said "radical feminism is a distortion of the concept of equality". "We have even got to the point of normalising the fact that in many supposedly civilised countries, if you kill a woman, it is called femicide," the far-right populist said in his speech. "And this carries more serious punishment than if you kill a man simply based on the sex of the victim — legally making a woman's life be worth more than that of a man." It is unclear when the proposed penal code reform will be presented to Congress and whether Milei's minority government would have enough support to pass the measure. Argentina has long been considered one of the most progressive countries in Latin America when it comes to gender equality and diversity measures, but Milei's administration has taken aim at women's rights since taking office in December 2023. The ministry of women and undersecretariat for protection against gender violence were scrapped straight away, while schemes to help female victims of violence have been scaled back. Last November, Argentina was the only nation to vote against a UN resolution promoting the end of all forms of online violence against women and girls. Milei's administration is also seeking to repeal measures such as gender parity in electoral lists, labour quotas for sexual minorities, and non-binary identity documents. His stance against what he calls "gender ideology" gained momentum this month following the inauguration of US President Donald Trump — an ally and admirer of Milei. Hours after taking the oath of office last week, Trump signed an executive order ending diversity, equity and inclusion programmes within the US federal government, which he described as "dangerous, demeaning and immoral".
Yahoo
30-01-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
State leaders respond to rule monitoring citizenship at school
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — The latest rule approved by the Oklahoma Board of Education would have schools record student and parent citizenship status when they enroll. The news of the rule is causing some to worry for their children's futures, and now state leaders are sending a reminder not to panic. 'At the end of the day, these kids are like any other, wanting to achieve their dreams, and education is a vehicle for them to be able to do that,' said Representative Alonso Sandoval, D-Oklahoma City. Legal experts say OSDE citizenship rule likely to face lawsuits The rule to monitor U.S. Citizenship in schools is causing some to push back and say it's unlawful. 'The rules that were proposed and passed by the state department of education go up against the constitution of the state of Oklahoma and the National Constitution as well that grants every child the right to a free and public education, regardless of citizenship status,' said Representative Sandoval. On Wednesday, Governor Kevin Stitt addressed immigration from a criminal standpoint. 'We have about 536 people incarcerated in state prisons that are here illegally. They've committed crimes, are here illegally,' said Governor Kevin Stitt. While Governor Stitt didn't address the rule at the press conference, News 4 followed up with an email asking for the governor's response. OSDE passes rule to require citizenship status of families Governor Stitt's team sent a statement: The Governor is focused on getting those who have committed crimes while here illegally out of Oklahoma. That is why he initiated Operation Guardian. He'll continue to work to protect all four million Oklahomans. The Office of the Governor While the rule to monitor legal status in schools has yet to be approved, state leaders are reassuring families who might have concerns about sending their children to the classroom. 'At this point one thing that we can assure them is that children ultimately would be able to complete the semester without having to be worried about any kind of unwanted questions as far as citizenship or anything else,' said Senator Michael Brooks-Jimenez, D-Oklahoma City. News 4 also followed up with the governor's office asking more specifically if he would support the rule should it pass legislature and make it to his desk, but did not hear back. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
