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Friday, November 25, 2011

The South African Board of Directors (Government Cabinet) Party at the expense of their employees (taxpayers)


The Cape Times article on 23rd November about the size of government jets refers.

The difference between a country like South Africa and China is that China pays cash for its jets, whereas South Africa borrows the money.  Or actually government ministers borrow the money and expect their tax payers to pay the bill!

According to the South African Revenue Services Report, Chapter 6, South African Government Net Debt is expected to rise from R478.4 billion in 2006/7 to R1.3 trillion in 2012/13 whilst the South African cabinet continues to approve the borrowing of 6% of its expenses year after year.  Debt service costs are expected to increase to R104 billion per annum, but this is interest only and who is receiving these interest payments?  And how will the capital be repaid?

What I'd like to know is: Are South African government ministers signing personal surety for this debt?  Or who really owes the money?

A business which borrows this amount of money to sustain itself should not be allowed luxuries such as private jets, should only be allowed to fly economy class, should use video conferencing where-ever possible, should not be allowed to buy new cars with a value more than R150,000 and should not be allowed to buy new cars more than once every 10 years or 200,000 km which ever happens first, should have their holidays curtailed and salaries cut.

Any government expenditure that is for the government's own benefit and not for the people's benefit should be subject to a referendum.  And citizens should be allowed a say in where they get their electricity, water, food, transport and other major capital expenditure items from.  The South African cabinet is notoriously bad at budgetting for large capital projects often overspending billions on construction projects and costing the tax payer dearly, not only in terms of increased taxation, but in the inability of business to perform because of the late delivery of projects.  It's time for the government's party to end and for them to start performing in their jobs.  Once their Debts are paid, they can buy new cars and jets.

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