Last month there were the stories of
indefinitely delayed refunds by SARS, documented from a visit to SARS and
conversations with SARS victims at a particular SARS office. At the time I thought
the rot was limited to private taxpayers as they make up the bulk of the
taxpaying population, being easy targets and not having corporate tax shelters
to hide behind, and so just dutifully, if not reluctantly swelling the coffers
of a quintessentially corrupt regime.
Last Sunday evenings broadcast of Carte
Blanche however not only confirmed the extent of the mismanagement within SARS,
it also confirmed the extent of the corruption that allows information from
SARS to be used to hijack companies, in order to fraudulently lay claim to tax
refunds due to corporate customers.
It seems that South Africa has become an
out of control country, unable to control the most basic aspects of good
governance. All of the lack of control so evident in our society leads to
wastage of valuable taxpayer funds. This leads to reduced social assistance to
the needy, by diverting funds to the corrupt.
To have SARS suddenly becoming an
accomplice to the systematic theft of public funds is just unthinkable. The fact
that the band of thugs previously known as CIPRO is intrinsically involved
comes as no surprise.
The real surprise and disappointment is that
once again, a commercial undertaking such as Carte Blanche had to step forward
to do the work of Law enforcement agencies, who have been aware of this practice
for some time, as it is not the first case to come to the attention of the
public.
Why are we the public being used as tax cannon
fodder, while the institutions we fund stand by while massive fraud is
perpetrated on the whole country?
It seems we have reached a point, where
corruption has become government policy, and those who try to stop it, will be
seen as the enemy.
Is this what we collectively fought for as
a people, so that we could be free?
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