Increased accountability: the social uprising against government
Protest beyond the law is not a departure from democracy; it is absolutely essential to it. These were the words of American historian Howard Zinn, and they are very appropriate in South Africa’s current socio political climate where we are seeing mass protests and a general voice of dissatisfaction when it comes to government policies.
dissatisfaction when it comes to government policies.
FAnews recently attended the 2016 SAUMA Conference where some of the industry’s leading professionals addressed a packed auditorium on a number of topics affecting the UMA industry. The insight gained at the conference produced a good oversight into the risk that the industry faces as well as the road that needs to be walked to overcome them.
The great tax revolt
At no time in the country’s history has there ever been a tax revolt as there is now in South Africa. It is not personal income taxes that the man on the street is refusing to pay; it is the government safe haven of indirect taxes that is feeling the brunt of our collective willpower to stand up for our rights.
Wayne Duvenage – CEO of the Opposition Against Urban Tolling Alliance (OUTA) – said that the day that government decided to flex its muscles in an unjust manner was the day that the country stood together.
The main work of OUTA has been to speak out against the electronic tolling system that has been enforced on road users using the highways between Johannesburg and Pretoria. And while many think that those who don’t pay for e-tolls may be accused of taking a belligerent stance on the issue, Duvenage said that the opposition is about more than that. “When the roads were upgraded, government was rolling out an infrastructure build programme which would benefit the country. And no one can blame or begrudge government that; when we wake up and we see a payment system that is taking advantage of the public being implemented, that we take exception to,” he said.
It also goes beyond the payment of the use of the roads. It’s about the lack of proper investment of the money collected by government. “If you are going to implement a pay-as-you-use system, you need to provide suitable alternatives to that system. In countries like the UK and Sweden, there was a significant infrastructure investment in public transport surrounding the implementation of the pay-as-you-use system. In Sweden, there was even a referendum held by government to see if the people wanted the system to be implemented, and the motion passed with little opposition. I will not pay a cent on e-tolls because there are very little public transport options that the public can use as an alternative,” said Duvenage.
The state of leadership
The second root cause of the opposition to e-tolls is what Duvenage refers to as arrogant leadership which has led to the breakdown in trust between the public and government.
He rightly pointed out that there needed to be extensive public consultation in the lead up to the implementation of the e-toll issue, which never took place. The stance taken by the South African Roads Agency Limited (SANRAL) on the issue is also problematic. SANRAL has begun an extensive campaign whereby they are issuing summons to those who owe a significant amount of money in outstanding e toll fees. “State coercion and victimisation is no way to rule the country. This is a central point in our court cases where we represent members of the public who have joined OUTA and have been taken to court by SANRAL,” said Duvenage.
The tension between the public and government has been building up for a number of years, and is finally being transformed into action. Government is fighting a war on a wide front when it comes to civil disobedience and it may find out that it may be the loser come election time when it loses a number of key municipalities. Ferial Haffajee, Editor In Chief of the City Press, also pointed out that the African National Congress (ANC) looks set to lose control over the Nelson Mandela Bay municipality in the Eastern Cape to either the Democratic Alliance or a coalition led governance pact between two or three political parties.
“Gauteng is the economic heartland of the country. If the ANC loses either the City of Johannesburg or the City of Tshwane, or both, it will be a major blow to the party and what they hope to achieve going forward,” she said.
Causal effects
What has been the effects of all of this on the country? Haffajee rightly pointed out that South Africans do hold their leaders accountable for their actions to a great extent. She added that if you travel throughout Africa, it is very rare that you find a situation where a President has to answer to the courts and is in fact found guilty. This is largely due to the powers of our Public Prosecutor, another office that is glaringly absent on the continent.
So we are good at holding our leaders accountable for their actions in court; but to what extent, the proof of this pudding will be in its eating when President Jacob Zuma finally faces up to the multiple corruption charges that are levelled against him.
Editor’s Thoughts:
Often we bemoan protests when they turn violent, and rightly so. However, Al Gore once said that civil disobedience has an honourable history; and when the urgency and moral clarity has crossed a certain threshold, it becomes quite understandable and has a role to play. The question is…have we crossed that line. Please comment below, interact with us on Twitter at @fanews_online or email me your thoughts jonathan@fanews.co.za.
