Smaller, Smarter Government

POLICIES

The concept of the Night watchman state

The problem with the State:

The South African state in its current form is an overbearing, metastasizing mass of bureaucracy that has been hurriedly cobbled together by a brood of ideologues and career politicians who now seem to have reached the ceiling of their own incompetence. Year after year, the ANC has abused both the moral authority and legislative capacity of the state to unnecessarily grow the powers of government, resulting in the infringements on the rights of the individual, the rights of private property and untold economic vandalism.

Economic vandalism quantified:

An official unemployment rate of 33,6% as of the 2nd quarter of 2026.
An estimated number of 8,5 million unemployed South Africans
A Sovereign debt of approximately R6,3 TRILLION
R1,3 Billion daily on servicing the debt interest alone
A debt to GDP ratio of 78%, meaning that the equivalent of 78% of South Africa's yearly economic output is owed in debt.
R40 Billion in botched Arms deals
R692 Billion in debts from State Owned Enterprises
R1,5 - 2 Trillion lost in State Capture (for whom noone has been truly held to account)

What is needed?

The Free Democrats advocate for a pragmatic model of government known as the Night Watchman State. This model of government is the sole model of functionally moral government, wherein it limits the tyranny-prone aspects of the state whilst maximizing individual liberty within the bounds of reason.

The proposed formation of the state according the Free Democrats would be the following:

Close down useless government departments whilst keeping and reforming only the Department of Defence, Home Affairs, National Treasury, Justice, Public Works and Infrastructure, Revenue services, International Relations & Cooperation. We wish to abolish all others.
A drastically reduced number of Civil Servants following extensive, comprehensive performance reviews.
A state that spends within it's means, ideally 15-25% less
Introduce spending priorities
A low tax state, keep more of what you earn
Provides a military for external defence
Provides a devolved police force and courts to administer law and order
Sell unused state land and buildings and use the proceeds to redeem our gargantuan sovereign debt.
Privatize State Owned Enterprises, ports and rail
Protect Individual rights
Comprehensive rights to private property