Plug the money drain, ANC, and act against thieves

The auditor-general’s (AG) findings that only 18 municipalities out of 257 received clean audits should be deeply troubling to every South African.

For too long, residents – not just citizens, because seriously, everyone pays tax in one form or another – have been on the receiving end of maladministration, incompetence, and gross financial muggings.

It’s the same old, same old over and over again. We pay taxes, Sars gives shedloads of money to ill-equipped and corrupt municipalities who simply make the money disappear without any accountability.

Then everyone is “shocked” – to quote myriad government officials, not only our Ramadarling – when people go on the rampage when election promises are not kept.

Inexplicably, when it comes to elections, we numbly vote in the same bunch who screwed the pooch in the first place.

If we don’t change our thinking, we’ll never see change – that’s the simple honesty of it.

And don’t kid yourself the changes to the AG Act will have any real, immediate, effect.

The new regulations state when issuing a certificate of debt – the AG’s highest form of censure – where an accounting officer or accounting authority has failed to comply with remedial action, the certificate has to be issued in line with certain procedures.

This means the AG must consider written representations, progress or outcomes of an investigation by him or any other probe.

It simply opens the door to protracted court action where failing municipalities will incur substantial legal fees trying to dodge blame for not having done their work properly.

And if the AG is ever successful in having its “certificate of debt” escape review – which will need a judge capable of reading numbers like words – who’s going to be responsible?

In all likelihood, the debt will fall on the shoulders of the already broken municipality because officials are covered when acts such as these happen while they are in office.

So it’s the taxpayer who has to pay double.

Which means Sars will have to bump up taxes once again, and honestly, with 38% of tax coming off Pay As You Earn salaried employees, I feel like we’re reaching our limit.

I would venture most of us are paying our taxes knowing they are a necessary evil. But when the money simply disappears into non-existent projects and large back pockets, paying tax becomes more of a snarl than ever before.

Sars is taking steps to restore its credibility after being under attack from State agencies for so long. What’s not happening is control over the money it’s dishing out left, right and centre.

There has to be immediate, credible, and powerful action taken against those who diddle us at every turn.

The Zondo commission certainly has been a great instrument for people to get the word out on large scale corruption – but there’s been no consequence yet.

It is perhaps time for Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo to take a break from the endless soul-grinding testimony about how the powerful made merry with state-owned enterprises and issue an interim report with recommendations for prosecution.

Something has to happen, and soon, because even if we’re not running out of patience, we’re running out of time and money.

And when that happens, as EFF leader Julius Malema prophesised, there will be an unled revolution, and it will be bloody.

The ANC will only have itself to blame.

Amanda Watson.

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