Rex van Schalkwyk

Rex van Schalkwyk is a former judge of the Supreme Court of South Africa. Rex was elevated to the bench at the age of 41, at that time one of the youngest appointments yet to that position. As a judge he dealt with commercial litigation involving international corporations, one of which is still regarded as the longest and costliest trials in South African commercial law history. With the introduction of the constitutional era he specialized in the area of constitutional law, until his resignation from the bench in 1996.His resignation was prompted by two matters of principle: the increasingly strident political attacks against the judiciary by members of the African National Congress government, and the heedless rush to make affirmative action appointments to the bench, regardless of qualification. He has since retained his interest in the law by assuming appointments as an arbitrator in commercial disputes. Rex is the author of three books. The first is a philosophical/political novel titled Enigma's Diary. The second, published in 2009, is a factual economic, social and political assessment of the New South Africa (the begetter and repository of too many illusions) and the reasons why, in time, it is destined for failed statehood. The title of the second book is One Miracle is not Enough. The third book, published in New York in 2009, is titled Panic for Democracy. This book analyses Joseph Schumpeter's thesis that the "democratic bribe" will inevitably lead to the predominance of socialist political systems, and the unsustainable sovereign indebtedness that will result from those programmes. Individuals, as I have said in the past, are susceptible to political humbug, and it is that susceptibility that leads inevitably to bad and unaffordable policy decisions, which have the capacity, in time, to undermine the concept of democracy itself. We see the effects of unaffordable policy decisions in the United States and in Europe, as the crisis of 2008 morphs into the even greater financial crisis of 2011/2012. Rex has also written numerous articles on the law, politics, economics and international finance, many of which have been published in Johannesburg's leading daily newspaper, the Business Day.