Libertarianism in South Africa

Libertarianism in South Africa has influenced political and apolitical structures. Libertarianism has not yet become a distinct political movement but is instead represented in one form or another in multiple political and non-political organisations.

History

The Free Market Foundation, founded in 1975, is identified by many as being a free-market libertarian think-tank. During the 1994 elections two parties had strong Libertarian platforms—the Federal Party led by Frances Kendall-Louw and the KISS Party led by Claire Emary.

The Democratic Alliance, then known as the Progressive Party, held many liberal and libertarian ideals, some of which they still hold to this day. It has been argued that the Democratic Alliance's privatization stance is most in line with proprietarian ideals.[1]

Helen Suzman was notable in her pursuit of the proprietarian ideal of freedom in South Africa. She officially carries the label of liberal.[2]

A Libertarian Party of South Africa was founded on 20 October 2013. The party was officially registered on 26 February 2014. Currently it is pretty moribund[3]

Libertarian Seminar

The first annual Libertarian Spring Seminar was organised by Frances Kendall in 1984 at the Nebo holiday farm in the Free State. The purpose of the seminar was to discuss pressing issues affecting South Africa. These seminars have been run annually by the SA Libertarian Society, an informal collection of libertarian individuals.

Organisations

The Libertarian movement in South Africa was, for the most part, very informal, but organisations do exist. The SA Libertarian Society and Free Market Foundation are the oldest organisations which can be seen as Libertarian. Newer organisations and parties have formed in the past few years.

The Libertarian community maintains contact through multiple means. Libertarian dinners are organised on a monthly basis in the main centres of South Africa, which function similarly to the annual seminars. Most communication is enacted on Facebook and internet forums.

As of October 2013, there is a Libertarian Party of South Africa which has since become officially registered and is commonly seen as the official face of libertarianism in South Africa.

See also


References

External links

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