Besides being a desperate move to bolster declining revenues, the intention of those in power to impose a surcharge on the use of solar systems is just another way of restricting individual independence by extending and centralising state control (The Mercury, December 11).
It is surprising that this idea should come from Cogta minister Velenkosini Hlabisa of the IFP which, when last checked, had Thatcherite policies.
In any event, turning the screws on the diminishing corps of loyal, revenue-providing residents is not the solution because it will hasten the decline of that group. Equally doomed is the proposal to attach new revenue schemes to water services, waste treatment and the hardy annual – property rates.
More taxes will mean more defaulters. Property values will drop when owners find upkeep beyond their means resulting in a downward revision of rateable values.
It is a pity we don’t have the duo of Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy here who are poised to reduce US Federal government spending by $1 trillion. But what can be done is to prune the bloated size of municipalities. Less is more. Privatise functions as widely as possible. And in the case of eThekwini, get the Ingonyama Trust lands within the Municipality to pay rates.
Of course, underpinning the situation is the worldwide fact of excess government and the Orwellian desire to regulate, dictate and control. George Harrison expressed it very neatly with these words from his 1966 song Taxman:
If you drive a car, I’ll tax your street; If you try to sit, I’ll tax your seat; If you get too cold, I’ll tax your heat; If you take a walk, I’ll tax your feet.
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