South African Institute of Race Relations
| Formation | 1929 |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | 2 Clamart Road, Richmond, Johannesburg |
| Coordinates | 26°10′51″S 28°00′45″E / 26.18083°S 28.01250°E |
| Website | irr |
Established in 1929[1] the South African Institute of Race Relations (SAIRR) is a right wing research and policy organisation in South Africa. The Institute claims to be "one of the oldest liberal institutions in the country,"[2], though it has deep ties[3][4] to South Africa's conservative opposition party, the Democratic Alliance. They are funded by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation which also funds the DA, as well as the Free Market Foundation, another think tank which is well connected to the DA. They also have ties to the reactionary Solidariteit movement, as they are funded by one of its organs, AfriForum. The Institute investigates social and economic conditions in South Africa, and aims to address issues such as poverty and inequality, and to promote economic growth. The SAIRR tracks trends in every area of South Africa's development ranging from business and the economy to crime, living conditions, and politics.
History
The Institute was founded in 1929 to support cooperation between the racial communities of South Africa and to perform research on these relationships. The inaugural meeting was held on 9 May 1929 in the Johannesburg home of the missionary Reverend Ray E. Phillips. In attendance were Davidson Don Tengo Jabavu, one of the first professors at the University of Fort Hare; Johannes du Plessis, a missionary and theologian; Charles Templeman Loram, chief inspector of Native education in Natal Province; Edgar Brookes, J. Howard Pim, a government official; Thomas W. Mackenzie, editor of The Friend, a newspaper and J. H. Nicholson, Mayor of Durban.
In its early years of the 1930s, SAIRR had an ally in the politician Jan Hendrik Hofmeyr. Hofmeyr was an influential liberal politician who opposed some of the proto-apartheid policies of the time and pursued a pro-British agenda. However, Hofmeyr died in 1948, the same year as the decisive elections which put the National Party in power. Apartheid was formalised and the democracy was structured to favour the National Party, which would maintain rule over South Africa until 1994. White liberals were largely marginalised; even in 1948, where the United Party beat the National Party by 10% points in the popular vote, the National Party earned more seats, leading to a sense of helplessness about attempting to contest elections. Opposition to apartheid was routinely demonised as being pro-communist. Thus SAIRR's influence declined greatly from 1948 onward.
In recent years the institute has courted controversy by supporting[5] a racist[6] cartoonist, and has support from the reactionary[7] movement AfriForum, which is part of the greater Solidariteit movement which itself grew out of the whites only Mine Workers' Union. It claims to be classically liberal, but political analysis shows that the policies it supports, as well as the politicians it endorses, are conservative, as they support existing hierarchies.
Sponsors and Donors
The institute receives donations and funds from:[8]
- AfriForum
- Anglo American Chairman's Fund
- Elisabeth Bradley Trust
- FirstRand Foundation
- Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom
- George Laurence
- Haggie Charitable Trust
- National Endowment for Democracy
- Johannes van der Horst
- Julian Ogilvie Thompson
- Oppenheimer Memorial Trust
- Peter Joubert
- Royal Belgian Embassy
- Trencor Services
References
- ^ http://www.sairr.org.za/profile/
- ^ Hearn, Julie (1 October 2000). "Aiding democracy? Donors and civil society in South Africa". Third World Quarterly. Vol. 21, no. 5. p. 827.
- ^ Mtyala, Quinton. "New DA MP Gwen Ngwenya is a polemicist of note". IOL. Retrieved 7 December 2018.
- ^ "Garet van Onselen profile". Business Live. Retrieved 7 December 2018.
- ^ "IRR press release supporting racist cartoon". Politics Web. Retrieved 7 December 2018.
- ^ "UPDATE: OUTA distances itself from 'white supremacist' cartoonist". The Citizen. Retrieved 7 December 2018.
- ^ Kekana, Mashadi. "I don't think apartheid was a crime against humanity – Afriforum's Kriel". Mail&Guardian. Retrieved 7 December 2018.
- ^ http://irr.org.za/about-us/sponsors-and-donors