Give tax breaks for helping government

In modern-day South Africa, it is becoming more and more accurate to say that if you want something done – in terms of services which the government or municipalities should provide – you should do it yourself.

That is why it is gratifying to see that potholes are being taken care of in a multiparty cooperative effort between the City of Joburg, Discovery and DialDirect. Gratifying because potholes are one of the biggest headaches for car owners and drivers … and because without the intervention of the private sector, the wealthiest city in this country would look like just another African basket-case metropolis with crumbling infrastructure.

Now, Discovery Insurance has formed a private fire brigade for its clients, after realising they were, in effect, on their own in case of a fire at their homes, because the Joburg fire service cannot cover the city properly.

ALSO READ: Discovery Insure launches firefighting service in Joburg

This privatisation of services is in addition to what ordinary middle-class South Africans have to dig out of their pockets to pay for services which should be funded by the tax they pay. These include medical (via medical aid), security (via private armed response) and education (in costs of private and fee-paying government schooling).

This extra burden on taxpayers gives the lie to the false claim that e-tolls, for example, are justified on the user pays principle. No. We already paid for those roads through our taxes.

Now, we also see organisations like AfriForum bringing successful private prosecutions because our criminal justice system is either unable, or unwilling, to bring offenders to justice.

However, should taxpayers not be given rebates for helping the government do its job? Why should we have to pay twice, while our money gets grabbed by the looters in the ANC government? Also, why not formally privatise this and allow people to pay directly? At least things would work then.