State vampire takes heavy toll on cash cows in cars

21 August 2011 - 02:51 By Marvin Meintjies
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There's one nationalisation campaign I would fully support. Forget the mines and banks. Let's nationalise our roads! Let the people be free to use the highways, bi-ways and freeways. Let the people drive from Jozi to Pretoria without fear of massive toll fees.

Some among us have long been wary of Transport Minister S'bu Ndebele - or to give him his proper latin designation: Sburidium ndebelicus (a symbiont that can turn parasitic if not monitored carefully by the host). Those of us who used to delight in the long drive down to KwaZulu-Natal now dread the experience.

Some among us have complained that they are made to feel like Paris Hilton - with all those cameras flashing at them every 10.5km as soon as they get to Van Reenen's Pass.

As the MEC for transport in KwaZulu-Natal, Mr Zero Tolerance was well known to be passionate about road safety - and the revenue from traffic fines. And we could live with that. It was a symbiotic relationship.

However, we have passed the point where the relationship is beneficial to both parties. As evidenced by Ndebele's comments about motorists unhappy at the high toll fees levied between Jozi and Pretoria.

He said: "People buy cellphones, they pay for airtime ... people are prepared to pay for comforts but are not prepared to pay for service delivery (i.e. the roads he's kindly given us)."

I was disturbed by both the paternalistic tone of his comment and who it was directed at.

Buses and taxis are exempt from the tolls. Which narrows the focus of Ndebele's ire to you and me - taxpaying motorists who are the backbone of this economy.

We've already paid for those roads, that's what income tax is for, now we're just being mugged.

According to SA Revenue Service statistics there are only 5.9-million taxpayers keeping this country going. That's roughly two million more than read the Sunday Times every Sunday.

Those are fantastic figures for a newspaper, but not so great for a country's tax base. Then there are the 1.9 million companies and 685523 VAT vendors registered with SARS.

That's a small group to put the squeeze on in a country of 50 million, according to the latest figures from Stats SA.

It is clear then that Sburidium ndebelicus has now advanced to full-blown parasitism.

The warning signs were there for all to see. In 2009 the newly appointed minister was pictured, along with beaming wife Zama, sticking his head out of the sunroof of the Mercedes S500 given to him by contractors who did work for the KwaZulu-Natal transport department.

The R1-million car - and two cattle - were tokens of appreciation for Sburidium, who was the MEC for transport and later premier of the province when juicy tenders were being dished out. He caved to public pressure and agreed to return the car. Apart from Juju stuffing his face with cake, it's hard to think of a picture that better encapsulates the greedy politician.

Like any other parasitic organism, Sburidium lives in a close relationship to its host, and causes it harm. "The parasite is dependent on its host for its life functions ... to live, grow, and multiply. Parasites rarely kill their hosts," says the University of Arizona's online definition.

So, the tolls won't kill us. But ... like a hookworm in the lower intestine of the economy, the toll fees will steal vital nutrients, cause various diseases and likely lead to malnutrition.

Now, imagine that our economy is already in bad shape. Like a refugee at a Gift of the Givers makeshift camp. And the local warlord insists on taking a 10th of the rations being given to this refugee. Then decides that he needs to be compensated for the effort it takes to collect his cut of those rations. Weakened by hunger, the refugee can barely put up a fight.

That's the average taxpaying middle-class South African right there - the broken backbone of the economy.

Pansi toll concessions, pansi! Mandela did not set us free to suffer tyranny on tar. Rise up and march to Pretoria, if you can't afford the toll fee.

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