Too many big companies are shifting their profit centres to other parts of the world, where they can avoid paying tax, according to Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan.
Gordhan told parliament's standing committee on finance yesterday that he had encountered growing optimism around the world when it came to South Africa and the continent as a whole.
"That optimism is about new resource discoveries. It's about the revenue from those resources being used in a responsible way," he said.
The "resource boom" was leading to a new fiscal base for many countries to work from. Multinational companies were asking Africa to build fiscal capacity.
"At the same time these very businesses are the ones that participate in ... tax avoidance, which undermines the fiscus as well."
Gordhan warned against negative messages from opposition parties, analysts and the media emerging from within South Africa.
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