FMF NEWSLETTER 25 February 2021

FMF NEWSLETTER 25 February 2021
Dear friend of the FMF, Rise to the challenge! We are pleased to announce that the 2021 FMF R1Million Challenge is now in full swing. The R1Million Challenge is our annual fundraising initiative now in its 7^th year. Any donation you make to the FMF before 31 March 2021 will have 50% added by our sponsor. The FMF is the oldest free market think-tank in South Africa, and one of the oldest in the world. We are a non-profit organisation and are entirely reliant for our operational funding on donations by private individuals and organisations. No amount is too small to matter to us. No amount is too small to have the 50% added. Please donate now Thank you to our generous sponsor for making the 2021 FMF R1 Million Challenge possible. We ask that our members and friends rise to the challenge with support for the Free Market Foundation. It is only with your support that we may continue to strive for a better tomorrow for all South Africans.
FIGHT back against EWC
Expropriation without compensation is unheard of in the open and democratic societies of the world. No society that has attempted expropriation without compensation has emerged from such an initiative with a prosperous economy – instead, ruin and poverty always resulted. Zimbabwe is already in the early stages of walking back its own experiment with no-compensation expropriation, and we must expect something similar to happen once the criminal regime of Nicholas Maduro in Venezuela comes to an end. South Africa’s government is attempting to introduce expropriation without compensation in South Africa by amending section 25 of the Constitution to allow itself to expropriate private property without paying for it. The amendment to the Constitution itself is still being finalised by government, but the technical details for its implementation have already been published in the form of the Expropriation Bill. South Africans have until 28 February to comment on this disastrous piece of legislation. See the FMF’s submission on the constitutional amendment [here]. Register your opposition to this bill by sending a short submission to government. More information [here]. Media Room All articles, media releases, videos and submissions on EWC [here].
NEW FMF article
Making sense of the 'evil' of price gouging, AKA price flexibility – Zakhele Mthembu The National Consumer Commission (NCC) has launched an investigation into major retailers such as Shoprite, Pick n Pay, Woolworths and the Spar Group, among others, regarding the alleged excessive prices for ginger and garlic the retailers. The allegations were encouraged by a public outcry over the prices of these goods. Thus again, we see public opinion, uninformed as it may be, influencing the Commission (is the Commission government) to interfere with voluntary transactions between individuals and businesses, and possibly attracting criminal sanction that could even result in imprisonment for entrepreneurs - in this instance retailers - for simply providing a good consensually in the market. The NCC says the law defines price gouging as an "unfair or unreasonable price increase that does not correspond to or is not equivalent to the increase in the cost of providing that good or service". The cost of a product in the market is less influenced by the 'cost of providing that good' but rather by the supply of said good in the market relative to its demand. The supply and demand of a product are what are largely responsible for its price in the market, not its 'cost'; a determination that would be impossible to ascertain objectively for purposes of a just ruling in law, since costs vary from company to company, even for providing the same good or service. To read further, please click here.
LATEST Free Marketeers episode (listen, subscribe, share)
The Expropriation Bill's Great Reset of property rights Government folly in controlling data prices Our podcasts are also available on Apple, Spotify, and Google
FMF in the media
Media release – This Budget may be the most significant in a generation – comment by Leon Louw FMF articles Change the incentives – SA needs competition in energy – James Peron Liberty is indivisible – Temba A Nolutshungu Political freedom in the age of COVID-19 pandemic – Mukundi Budeli Doen weg met rompslomp wat klein sake dooddruk – Temba A Nolutshungu Letter: Big state, big corruption – Chris Hattingh Quarterly Review: October 2020 – December 2020 Media Digest & Cuttings January 2021 for all media coverage
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Publish date: 25 February 2021
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The views expressed in the article are the author’s and are not necessarily shared by the members of the Foundation. This article may be republished without prior consent but with acknowledgement to the author.

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