Helen Zille vows to organise tax boycott in SA if voters ‘vote for corruption’ again

In a series of tweets on Saturday, Western Cape premier Helen Zille came out swinging against the ANC government and those who pick them at the polls, saying it may be time for taxpayers to withhold their payments.

The about 5 million people, or less than 10% of the population, who pay personal income tax have not been getting value for money, she has suggested, because the “ANC elite” are “stealing taxes meant to support the poor”.

“When elections come, the ANC calls us ‘racist’ so that black people, the majority desperately poor, vote for them again,” she wrote.

She said anyone voting for the ANC would, however, be complicit in corruption once again.

She vowed to organise a tax revolt if not enough people were prosecuted and jailed following a slew of revelations about corruption at the state capture commission of inquiry.

“As I see it, this election is the last chance the voters have to vote against corruption. And it is clear – a vote for the ANC (even under Cyril) is a vote FOR corruption. If the voters fail the democracy test again, its time for additional methods. #TaxRevolt,” she wrote.

Her comments elicited a range of reactions on Saturday morning, with many criticising the idea of a tax revolt as both anti-democratic and impractical.

However, it also stirred up enthusiasm and support for the idea.

(Compiled by Charles Cilliers)

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