Our currency appears
not very enthusiastic about the motley crew that President Cyril has picked for
his cabinet. It has weakened noticeably in the last few days probably initially
because the delay in making the announcement suggested that there was plenty of
last-minute horse-trading taking place. Sadly, the expectation of a lean and
clean government has not been met, with far too many ministers and even more
deputy ministers being allocated a place at the trough. Among the list are some
dubious deadbeats and the presence of JZ’s ex-wife sends a disturbing message. Off-setting
this somewhat is the appointment of “Aunty” Pat(ricia de Lille) the epitome of
a feisty lady from the opposition benches. In SA we have a long tradition of
having a nosy, noisy and competent dame in the chambers of power keeping
everyone on their toes.
Already the office
bearers of the new governments, both central and provincial have been making
promises of hard work and achievement. But its old news. We want leaders who say
“We have…” not “We will…” and don’t think
that opening a new toilet in the veld is a cause for celebration..
The processes
through which the so-called green house gasses are believed to be having a
dangerous impact on the planet are far from clear, but this hasn’t stopped a
great number of people and governments from turning the issue into a career and
money spinner. Governments are especially receptive to any idea that can be
taxable and have seized on the opportunity to raise money from the air that we
breathe. Or exhale to be exact. From tomorrow South Africans will start paying
a so-called carbon tax levied at a rate of R120 per ton of Carbon Dioxide (CO2)
emission. Or to be exact again, per ton of CO2 equivalent. Doubtless the legislation clearly defines what
is meant by the terms emitted and equivalent. And it presumably explains how to
measure the weight of a gas, since virtually every member of the animal kingdom
exhales this apparently noxious fume and needs to be able to calculate their
liability. Tidemarks has no intention to enter the debate about the proposed
links between concentrations of CO2 and other compounds and their effects on
the world’s climate beyond opining that not one penny of the collected levy in
this country will be spent on confirming that it’s true. It must be noted that
as a sop to the nation, the rate will initially be discounted to a mere R48 a
ton but will rise at the rate of inflation plus 2%. This unexplained link of a
tax rate to a consumer price index alone discloses at least one aspect of the
utter ignorance that most of us bring to what is an extremely complicated
physical chemistry problem.
An outfit
named the Alternative Information and Development Centre sounds as if it also will
have an opinion on the climate change question, but for the moment, they are lobbying
to get the tax returns of every citizen published. This, together with a public
registry of beneficial ownership of “all types of companies and land and
assets” sounds as if the AIDC are on the hunt for tax evaders and indeed they
calculate that more than R30bn a year is lost to the tax man from deliberately
distorted disclosure. Fair and good but totally unlikely to get the nod from the
benchwarmers in parliament who should in fact all lead the way with voluntary
disclosure. But this is chump change compared to the money wasted on the
expenditure side and realistically the only area from which to launch a
significant attack on the huge deficit.
Hopefully the
drubbing that the Proteas took from England in the opening match of the Cricket
World cup will be their worst result of the tournament. It definitely will have
alarmed the other teams, who thought a summer playing cricket in England could
be fun! Meanwhile the Blitzbokke need to have a decent tournament in Paris this
week.
James Greener
Friday 31st May 2019
Today used to be a public holiday and while we now have far more
days off than when the 31st May was celebrated as the anniversary of
the creation of the Union of South Africa, it must still to be remembered as
our nation’s actual birthday.
