Saturday, May 18, 2013

Tax, Honesty and Steve Tshwete

So I'm in a bitching mood. But I think I have every right to be after I discovered casual labour, like myself, get taxed 25%. I'm barely earning the minimum taxable income annually to pay tax with a job that is not secure, but I have to be deducted 25%. My own assumption is it's an unfair tax law in place to weed out fraud. But when it is my only source of income, I get a little upset. You might argue that I should count my lucky stars that I still live at home and my parental unit covers a lot of my expenses. And yes. I do count myself lucky, but I think it's an unfair tax law for those who don't have their parents as a safety net. By the way, Sars, I'm still waiting for an answer to my query with regards to my 25% monthly deduction.

We just had the auction of Julius Malema's fabulous home. It knocked off R5.9 million off of Malema's R16 million debt to Sars. My issue is how did this bill get so large? How was he allowed to total up such a ridiculous amount? And if you think R16 million owed to the tax man is shocking, the late Lolly Jackson seems to be the king pin of tax evasion. With R100 million tax bill, I'm slightly peeved that 25% of my measly salary gets taken away.

So what's the lesson here, kids? I need to find a freelancers union.

On to my next gripe. Why can't we just be honest? That already sounds naive and pathetic. But wouldn't it be easier? Wouldn't you save yourself some embarrassment? Look at our police commissioner Riah Phiyega. Her cross-examination at the Marikana Commission in April is the perfect example of where one should be honest. Her answers have been criticised as obvious attempts to avoid the questions. I find it incredibly upsetting this Marikana Massacre has not been taken seriously. Grow a back bone. Accept responsibility. People will respect you more for your honesty than your ability to dance around your answers and weave a response so riddled with over used euphemisms and clichés.

Guptagate has set the nation on fire and not long before that we had the Nkandla-gate scandal. All I hear are crickets. No one is willing to take the fall. And I'm not talking about the sacrificial scape goat. I'm talking about someone standing up and of their own free-will, directed by what's left of this country's moral compass, and saying, "It was me. I'm sorry." I'm tired of hearing I don't know and rehashed lines of Shaggy's 'It wasn't me'.

 

The Zambian deputy president's comments about our world class African country were refreshing. For once someone was honest, granted Guy Scott could have put a little more thought into the construction of such a statement. But for once someone put themselves out there and was honest.

I promised in my Customer Experience blog that if I moaned about something, I would include a compliment. Well for today's post, I'd like to follow David O'Sullivan's lead and compliment the Steve Tshwete Municipality. Surprise! It's not in the Western Cape! Located in Mpumalanga, this municipality has received a clean audit and they did this through depoliticising their administration. Leave your political affiliation at the door and do the job. Well done.

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