Most consulting firms I know are used for rubber stamping the management agenda. The rubber stamp is almost always cloaked in fancy PowerPoints and detailed “independent” analysis.
15
Revolutionary governments come in with good intentions but apparently fail their people. Venezuela, Nicaragua, South Africa are examples. Genuinely free elections are an antidote. Out with the team that did not deliver. However entrenched political power may allow the bad to maintain control with poor long term outcomes, see Venezuela. Now maybe also South Africa.
6
1. To those invoking Hillary - nice deflection, but Hillary has nothing to do with corruption in South Africa.
2. To my many friends in South Africa, this story isn't news. But the ANC legacy is being played out now. There is a growing coalition of White AND Black South Africans who are more concerned about their country than skin colour. People who have refused to leave because they love their country, and people who have refused to bow to corruption for the same reason.
3. This is the nascent party Ramphosa is trying to head off. In order to do so, however, he will have to play hardball with elements within his own party.
4. KPMG sounds like it is going to go the way of Arthur Anderson - and deservedly so. What shoddy work, to lift whole cloth a false story and present it as 'researched'.
16
Most of the world is a corrupt dark place where women’s rights are up there with the rights of a mule. We need a man like Trump to counter and call it for what it is. We cannot accept and continue to accept refugees from places that are incongruent with our culture and rights
10
So much for the evils of Apartheid. While an atrocity, it would seem the alternative is just as bad, or worse? I feel for the citizens, but nothing will change until there is oversight - and who should the overseer be? Too much unchecked power.
12
I agree with you. It should be an eye opener to us and get rid of our totally ignorant present government as soon as the next election so we don’t follow them next.
5
It is worth noting that Hillary Clinton is on record as saying she prefers the Constitution of South Africa to the Constitution of the United States of America.
12
Please share the record you refer to.
9
This should be on a T-shirt
Really? Prove it. Then tell us why that is "worth noting." If that is your take away from this article, then your comment is simply a transparent deflection meant to further divide Americans.
9
As soon as the ANC secured control the old SA gov’t was turned inside out. Corruption on a mass scale. Large numbers of South Africans became rich over night. Especially working for the government.
On the positive side there was no blood bath. Which is pretty unusual among western societies. And any others.
The sad part is that SA has the best natural resources in sub Sahara Africa and is the only nation really self sufficient in food courtesy of its abundant farm land.
Mandela let the revolution but he couldn’t guarantee good government.
So chalk it up to growing pains.
13
Are we really so different? Past champions of the people like the Clintons (now worth $250 million) and Obama (now worth $40 million) have profited hugely from their mixing of public service with private gain. While Progressives want to overlook these difficult facts, everyone else sees them. What South African anti-apartheid fighters don't understand, in common with U.S. Progressives, is that high-minded social views are not a justification for huge, dubious self-enrichment.
16
But the Clintons pay their taxes.
14
Actually, the parallels - cronysm, incompetence and nepotism - are more accurate when you consider Detroit and New Orleans.
5
So so many parallels to the US today. Festering lies making it impossible to discern truth from falsehood. Ministries run by appointees who undermine the mission of those very ministries, in the service of the bottomless rapacity of those at the top. And lest one think that this parallel is far-fetched, we need only consider that Zuma felt that he, like Putin and our very own wannabe Putin, should not have to be accountable to anyone. One particularly sad and ironic parallel is that Zuma was the face of the ANC, the party that was supposed to liberate the majority non-white population of South Africa from the penury suffered under apartheid. Just as Donald Trump was to turn downtrodden, forgotten Americans, into winners. He took that trust and proceeded to take away affordable healthcare among other things and cleared the way for those in his circle to live off the extracted fat of the land. Trump=Zuma. Hopefully, he will be kicked out just as Zuma was, alas, way later than he should have been. Significant damage sustained in South Africa; significant damage underway here in the 'Great Again' America. Very sad.
20
There are striking parallels between South Africa’s political and fiscal status and our own here in the United States. South Africa is simply ahead of the US in demonstrating how corrosive corruption is to the government and social fabric. Before the US goes down this SA road any further, I have one question: Mr. Trump, when are you going to make public your tax returns?
30
The governmental corruption in all of Africa, not just South Africa, is well known by those who have the courage to look and acknowledge it. The theft is simply staggering, and the whole system is built on cronyism, with mafia-like enforcement. It will only get worse, as these nations deteriorate into anarchy.
13
I know this point of view is common among Americans who are unfamiliar with Africa. Indeed, it is a common frame for those who harbor dangerous and detestable notions of racial superiority and inferiority. In fact, Africa is a HUGE and diverse place, with good and bad actors. Sadly, the latter are almost always enabled by greedy multinational corporations and others with an agenda that reaches beyond national borders. A simplistic sweeping generalization about the continent is dangerous and self-deluded.
9
"Meet the new boss, same as the old boss."
10
Corruption is the #1 drag on the economy. Remember this.
8
The BIG4 accounting/management groups are an international plague beyond the control of sovereign governments. Raping pillaging plundering to order for corporations and governments alike. Time for them to be subjected to controls. Their power and influence is a menace to people everywhere.
8
Remember the silly Wall-Street-born dream of the BRICS? Brazil, Russia, India, China, and (hold your laughter) South Africa? All poised to be the world's new collective powerhouse and financial giants by about, umm, right now?
What price the BRICS now, in the cold light of reality? It's still only "the C," like it was all along.
20
As sad as the corruption in leadership, another very serious problem is the murder of white farmers and confiscation of the farms in Western South Africa. This is happening daily, with no punishment of killers by the government. It looks as though under this regime, farmers have few choices but to defend themselves, move out, or seek asylum in other countries. Australia has already offered to take in as many as 2,000,000, although I’m not certain if many or any of the farmers have taken the offer. Very sad situation.
22
Australia has made no such offer. A few right wing political loons, shock jocks and the Murdoch (Fox) media have tried to beat this up into an issue for us to open borders to white refugees. No traction was gained.
13
I defer to your knowledge of this situation. My post was based on information that I believe was accurate. Thank you for replying.
Your news source for these statements is seriously flawed.
7
I've had to deal with ANC officials on a few occasions. They've always reminded me of functionaries I met in Mexico's PRI party before the market-based reforms of 1990s and the growth of a competitive electoral system. The arc of corruption in South Africa has been entirely predictable based on what happened in Mexico in the middle half of the 20th Century. A great novel that captures the betrayal of ideals of the Mexican revolution (similar the betrayals documented in the present tax case) is the Death of Artemio Cruz by Carlos Fuentes. A useful read for anyone interested in modern South Africa.
14
I remembering vacationing in South Africa in 2000. One guy told me that when the new black government came for white owned businesses, they would be ready as they had guns. White owned businesses are the next target in South Africa
Like their white neighbors in Zimbabwe, they will discover that their farms and businesses are favors to be awarded to government cronies. What is happening in South Africa is hardly surprising. When the economy is destroyed and the whites have left they will again revert to a nation of subsistence farmers.
28
Corruption has no race, but its color is green.
2
There is no difference between these corrupt public officials and our multi zillionaire business owners... see the article on moving profits overseas...
5
..and in almost every instance there will be a Big4 advisory group smoothing the way - at both ends of the corrupted transactions...
3
All of you who immediately bring Trump into these comments are delusional. This has nothing to do with Trump or US tax policy. Grumbling about paying our taxes is an American as apple pie, the difference here is that we do it anyway. We also have tax laws that are created, within full view of the public, in the name of "social engineering" (because that's how the people want it-for themselves). Taking advantage of those laws and the inevitable 'loopholes' they engender is neither illegal nor corrupt, in the strictest sense.
But none of that pertains to the problems facing SA. If they are a "democracy", their basic construct cannot be compared to the US as we are a "Republic" based on laws and a principle of governance that we accept due to many hundreds of years' participation.
South Africa is nothing like us. Their mores and societal norms are unlike ours and most of the West. Their attempt to emulate western governance will continue to be a failure because they do not believe in the same basic reasoning we do which allows our system, imperfect as it is, to maintain itself. We value the rule of law, even when some violate it. They value a different kind of economic interaction. The "corruption" decried in this article is nothing more than a way of life for many African nations. It's always family first and friends next. The "state" is not their focus unless it is handing out free stuff, which they will hoard and distribute to their family and friends. Always.
27
Having lived in SA during the beginning of the end of apartheid, it pains me to read this. Is it too much for SA’s leaders to do the right thing? Shameful.
16
Thank you for this in-depth article, and road-map to the future of the US under Trump and his corrupt allies. Thanks Republicans!
17
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?g=fKWr
August 4, 2014
Real per capita Gross Domestic Product for China and South Africa, 1990-2016
(Percent change)
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?g=fKWs
August 4, 2014
Real per capita Gross Domestic Product for China and South Africa, 1990-2016
(Indexed to 1990)
[ Development opportunities in the years since Nelson Mandela was finally freed from prison have been distressingly squandered. ]
8
South Africa better get those ducks in order soon or there will be popular pro-aparthied contingents getting serious and influential air time that will espouse that these issues did not take place in 'the good old days'. This will then lead to pushback among the masses and the country will dive head first back into what it used to be.
1
I doubt apartheid could be reimposed. I think too many whites and blacks have gotten used to working together as equals.
South Africa today is a reminder that the only color that is important is Green!
11
I have been deeply saddened over the years to see so many emancipated countries in Africa end up with leaders who do the same thing to their people as their former colonial overlords did.
It diminishes the idea of freedom and leaves these countries poorer than they were under white colonial rule. Tragic.
25
very tragic !
Smells like the USA! Founded by tax evaders! Run by tax evaders! Run into the ground by tax evaders! Can we go back in time, hang the founding fathers, and become Canadians?
13
yep, nicely put, @stephanie wood. i agree, and i have stated this several times before: "if you want to know who governs you, find out who doesn't pay taxes." [a german comedian made me aware of it even though he might not have been the first to say it.]
6
Well, I do think you should speak for yourself regarding tax evasion, rather than speaking for the USA. (Although coming from NJ, I understand evasion may be the norm).
3
Well, that was a depressing read.
9
How does KPMG not face judgement from regulators and government oversight? The should be charged with the RICO statute and indicted as a co-conspirator of a corrupt enterprise.
10
Note to king donni and his entire corrupt administration and to the corrupt GOP:
Even though you think you can use the USA as your personal piggy bank, in the end it will not be as easy for you as it has been for the corrupt regime in South Africa.
You have fooled some of the people 100% of the time, but the gullible are in the minority.
You will become a chapter in the dustbin of history.
Even Putin will not be able to save you. I suggest you move to Siberia.
7
Another example of a nation rich in resources where citizens elect those promising the most free stuff and revenge against those who actually made things work.
South Africa joins Venezuela on a long list of examples in past century.
27
@lane: "those who actually made things work" did so at the expense of too many people who were, and continue to be excluded!
3
I was in S.A. in Oct. 2012, when the local paper in Johannesburg warned about Zuma and the ANC. I traveled overland from Capetown to Johannesburg and saw there was no land distribution or any progress against grinding poverty and ignorance. Now the people are realizing the reality of Zuma and the ANC. Progress in government is slow and comes with a high price; S.A.is paying now.
7
The situation and events described are not surprising, nor are they unique to South Africa. When the elite avoid paying, regular folks do their best to follow suit. And accountancy firms are sometimes more than happy to help mask fraud. Greece is an example of similar processes in the EU.
21
A cautionary tale for the USA, I fear. Heads of State who refuse to be transparent in their dealings--by, for example, disclosing their tax returns--are ripe for sundry acts of corruption and graft. Quid pro quo arrangements--for example, foreign loans for business partners and relatives, rapid awards of foreign trademarks for a daughter, and other violations of emoluments clauses--become par for the course (at a Trump-owned property!) The defiling of Mandela's legacy is truly heart-breaking, as is the defiling of the US Constitution by the current presidential administration.
87
The pathological loathing of taxes in the U.S. is a real concern.
18
Nice; however, sadly, instead of "are ripe for" corruption and graft, I would use "have committed, are committing" corruption and graft...
violation of the public trust. these crimes should carry very severe penalties.
15
“Wielding a barrage of fictitious news stories and doctored assertions by one of the world’s biggest auditing firms, KPMG, Mr. Zuma managed to thwart scrutiny into his own taxes, his family’s affairs and his allies’ finances, according Mr. Pillay and three other former senior tax officials who confirmed the account.”
KPMG is a multinational corporation with a big presence in this country, is also helping the rich and corporations here avoid taxes. In the US we just write laws to make it lawful for the wealthy to avoid taxes as a reward for their donations to politicians campaigns.
47
Another example of CPA/consulting firm that do the bidding of the "boss" instead of meeting their obligation to the public .We need to to review the oversight of independent accounting .
Is this rogue agency/ deep state accusation being duplicated against our Justice Department?
14
KPMG was engaged to be one of the lines of defense in South Africa. The reality is that people everywhere are not always honest, and there is always a risk that financial records are inadvertently or maliciously changed. One of the primary reasons companies like KPMG exist is to independently audit a company’s or country’s financial records and reports, and formally communicate their findings.
What KPMG has done in South Africa is beyond unacceptable. How can any audit firm have so little internal control that this could possibly happen? This is a dereliction of duty, and loss of management control. Anyone with KPMG as their auditors better make sure their internal audit is robust and independent while they consider if KPMG is a company you can trust with your financials or reputation. What KPMG has done to South Africa is simply shocking.
35
It definitely sounds like another Arthur Anderson. I'm sure if their were real consequences for the accountants at KPMG South Africa, they would be a bit more forthcoming.
Why is it so hard for people to understand that paying taxes is important? I suppose that the very rich are insulated from effects on a world where taxes haven't been paid so the roads are crummy, the garbage isn't picked up and there is no healthcare (yeah, I know wishful thinking in the US but...). But most everyone else depends upon these types of government-provided services so do they think that magic monies make things work? It will be interesting to see if tax-dodging in the US goes up as a result of Trump's Presidency since his refusal to show his returns (unlike other Presidents and Presidential candidates) indicates something is fishy with his tax-paying habits. Are we headed down a road similar to South Africa?
16
The stench of Zuma's & ANC corruption is quite similar to the foul odors that waft from this WH and Congressional GOP legislatures with a big assist from crazed monied interests.
Russian leadership/oligarchs recognized the corruption and ignorance here and just made it a tool.
5
No, it's nothing like it and it's pathetic to try to link every single story to attacking Trump.
There's precisely zero difference in the way that the GOP and the Democratic Party operate.
The IRS is woefully underfunded. The Congress is paid through campaign donations to create loopholes. Effective tax policy is the single thing we can do to address the I'll in our society. One reason half the country doesn't vote is because they don't see that they have a stake in the outcome of elections.
2
The American colonies had 150 years of self governance to figure things out before independence. South Africa has not had that luxury.
Trump lies constantly and refuses to release his tax returns, after promising to do so. Trump et al continues to gut government agencies charged with collecting taxes and protecting the people of this country.
God save the United States. God save South Africa. We suffer from the same affliction.
12
Michael to say that taking 150 years to build a house of cards that can be blown over in his first year alone as an affliction says little for the structural design. It’s probably the last thing we’d want to be in anyway when the really big storm comes if that’s the case.
South Africa wasn't a colony before apartheid ended. Europeans have lived there as long as they have in America, they built it. It gained independence after WW2.
8
Seems that in South Africa tax cheating is not nearly as organized and well done as it is in the US. At least they make no bones about it there - it’s cheating. But here in the US it’s totally legal for the Uber rich hedge fund manager to pay 15% income tax while rest of us pay about 25%. And have you called the IRS lately? Give yourself 2 hours at least. The department has been gutted. Interesting how easy it is for us to point the finger at another country when we should really clean up our own act.
31
Has there ever been an honest large auditing firm?
5
I could totally imagine Trump going down this road.
7
I hope the U.S. Congress members are reading this and connecting the dots.
5
I wonder how all this corruption effects the Western Cape (Cape Town) since the DA (democratic alliance) is in charge and seems or did seem to be running a more reputable shop? I
would appreciate comments.
5
It matters little what color the power is, it’s the power that corrupts. We’re always chasing decoys, which explains why we never get to any real meat.
6
South Africa is not alone.
Paul Manafort is going to court on charges of tax evasion going back
years.
To the average honest US taxpayer, it appears that Mueller got to the bottom of it while the IRS failed to do their job.
From the public’s perspective, Manafort appears to be floating at the top of a bottomless pit of international money laundering and offshored tax evasion while the IRS is only tasked with keeping W-2ers in line.
What is going on over at the IRS?
7
See other comments. Congress is gutting the IRS.
2
...Jacob Zuma managed to thwart scrutiny into his taxes, his family’s affairs and his allies’ finances...
Dear readers,
Replace the name "Jacob Zuma" with, for example, Trump and the above phrase continues to make sense...
8
Far too many in this country have been heavily propagandized to believe that all taxation is evil and to question why the government deserves "their" money. Of course this represents an utter incomprehension of the subject. Without taxes there is no civilization. Individuals are not capable of providing their own highways, public services and protections etc. These fake conservatives should be forced to visit countries without an effective tax collecting agency like India or South Africa and see the effect of these horrible policies, terrible infrastructure and crushing poverty.
14
Of course taxation is necessary, but how, and how much. Flat tax? Less corruptable than our current system.
1
Listen up America! If you think for one second that the 1% are not destroying or will not continue destroy this country from the inside out for themselves and everyone else until they are stopped by the rest of us, think again. In the Los Angeles County midterm primary last week, we had a measley 21% voter turn out. If you are not interested in politics, you can be sure politics is still interested in you.
21
South Africa is a nation brimming with resources and potential. It is so disappointing to read of this web of corruption and treachery that enriches a few but keeps its people mired in poverty. They are on a path to implosion.
9
"Donald won't release his tax records..." I said with dark skepticism in my voice.
5
KPMG in the US was raked over the coals for peddling tax shelters that did not work. It had to pay a $456 million fine and sign a deferred prosecution agreement with the Dep't of Justice, admitting to its misdeeds.
But KPMG South Africa seems to have deliberately failed to disclose material facts in its official reports. One wonders if KPMG in the US was as forthcoming with our Dep't of Justice.
8
they must have learned that from India.
that's what you get if you undermine institutions. not talking to anyone specific, Mr. President
4
And this is where Failing 45 wants to take America.
5
The headline alone alone should give all of us food for thought. Whether South Africa—or any country on the globe, for that matter—it is a hard sell for any leader to think they are above what they expect their citizens to do.
4
This is extremely common in the Third World. Unfortunately, that is precisely where the US is headed. Corruption at the top drips down through society and changes the culture. That, if anything, is the most pernicious aspect of having a dishonest and immoral ignoramus as President. In the US, the race to the bottom has just started, under the GOP banner.
14
Corrupt politicians 1, state 0.
2
Post-apartheid South Africa with its President Rolihlahla Nelson Mandela (affectionately called Madiba) started out with a constitution that was adopted from the best of the world's democracies with a promise to its people of a corruption free South Africa with equal justice and equal opportunity for all South Africans. Unfortunately for South Africa the presidents who came after Madiba have taken South Africa down the slippery path of self promoting corrupt leaders who have wrecked not just its Tax agency SARS (South African Revenue Service) but also most other government agencies. President Zuma was President of South Africa for almost 10 years until he was forced out by his own party the African National Congress. Instead of the country Zooming under Zuma it has been economically and morally shattered. The well wishers of South Africa can only hope that the new president Cyril Ramaphosa can salvage the devastation left by Zuma and his cronies including the Zuptas.
7
Looks like KPMG South Africa has the same morals and ethics as its US affiliate. Remember how KPMG in the US was almost indicted for selling garbage tax shelters? It had to enter into a deferred prosecution agreement with the Dep't of Justice and pay a $456 million fine to save its derriere.
Assuming one believes KPMG's advertising that the worldwide firm has the same morals and ethics the world over, one wonders what they failed to tell Justice when negotiating the deferred prosecution agreement.
4
It's obvious that criminals run the world.
Just switch the name zuma with trump and there you more or less have it.
4
"KPMG was forced to publicly dismiss its own conclusions as well, admitting that it had essentially copied a memo from its client’s lawyers and passed off the allegations as its own, fully investigated findings."
That KPMG??
The bigshot accounting firm that holds itself out as being the best and the brightest when it comes to accountants?
3
Zuma was elected on the platform of social justice and redistribution - this is why he is still supported by millions of poor South Africans. But it turned out that the talk about racism was just a front for avarice and a ploy to loot the state. Food for thought.
12
Jacob Zuma was a crook from Day 1...and that's one of his better attributes. All of Mandela's sacrifices...for naught.
5
Sadly, the oppression of apartheid and colonialism in Africa has often been replaced by the oppression of corruption and dictatorships.
Th Times deserves credit for such non-PC investigations as this one.
How will ordinary Africans free themselves of this form of tyranny?
10
Tell that to Trump. Oh wait. He is incapable of reason
2
Unfortunately, the Trumps of this world and those that harbor anti-globalism and anti-immigrant leanings benefit from these types of stories. They justify their narrow mindedness with the hopelessness of these societies.
1
It seems that South Africa has a vibrant free press. We will see how long that lasts. If journalists start getting tossed in jail, South Africa will become another failed statem
5
Time for KPMG to make up the difference caused with their support.
3
Who does this remind you of?
3
There’s a special level in hell reserved for Jacob Zuma. White South Africa perpetrated much evil during apartheid, and created gross inequality (and there’s another, lower level in hell that will be pretty crowded as a result). But that’s all the more reason why the ANC government had (and has) a special obligation to the poor. There are a lot of very, very, good, socially committed people - or were - in the ANC, but they were silenced in the past 15 years, or pushed out, or left in disgust. I believe South Africa will be okay, but it will take time to undo the damage wrought by Zuma and his cronies, now in addition to that wrought by apartheid.
5
If all Americans were required to pay some tax we might see more voting and perhaps more rational economic choices by the government. This article should be a wake up for our leaders. The rich should pay more bit the poor should also pay something to the IRS. Everyone should have to think about it.
8
Arthur Anderson knows a thing or two about accounting firms lending cover to crooked books. South Africa has descended into tax collection public disaster with a staggering loss of confidence by the country. Zuma has taken the ANCs historic fight against apartied into the crapper.
3
I've made the argument before that so much of what binds us together as a society is voluntary and based upon the belief that we all have responsibilities not only to ourselves, but to shared values and priorities that transcends differences that now dominate political discourse.
We all need to pay into the tax pot for society to operate effectively and efficiently. But those with most of the power and wealth have decided that taxes are only for the "little people", while they extract an ever increasing amount of wealth and resources for their own selfish benefit and short sighted gains.
After a while it gets difficult to stomach struggling to pay more than your fair share as those in charge don't. Blatant corruption at the highest levels of society corrodes public trust.
41
There is a lesson in this story: the systematic eroding and undermining of the norms and rule of law in ANY country is a slippery slope, and the resulting slide is inevitable. It always ends up in exactly the same place.
64
No country can exist and say its acts in the best interest of its people if an entire class is exempt from the laws, costs and responsibilities of society.
Political power and influence should have nothing to do with law enforcement. That's basic for a open, functioning society yet increasingly forgotten.
Why should ordinary citizens follow laws that political partisans and those useful to them are not held accountable for?
49
It's the International Mafia Top 1% Global Financial Elite Robber Baron/Radical religion Good Old Boys' Cabal way.
Take it all. Take as much as you can get. Give nothing back. These Robber Barons are trying to foment WW3 to take over the world through global finance.
WE THE PEOPLE around the world who value democratic governance, relative peace and prosperity are the only ones who can/will stop them.
NOW is the time.
27
Now is the time? You mean now, like underTrump, the Prophet of selfishness, immorality and corruption?
2
Taxes are the cost of civilization.
Those who dodge, demonize and diminish taxation are anarchists.
Lock them up.
116
You assume a great deal about the efficacy of the South African justice system.
6
I'd like to know where the donations from the OECD go when given to South Africa, and other African countries!
21
I don't think you really want to know. It tends to ruin one's day.
3
The OECD is a reporting and analytic agency; it does not "donate" money to countries. Maybe you mean "donations" from OECD countries through foreign aid to South Africa. Foreign Aid to SA is minuscule since it is the richest or maybe second richest (to Nigeria) country is Africa. It does not (yet) need foreign aid.
1
I don't think the OECD sends money to various nations. The OECD is a think tank, not the World Bank or the IMF.
2
In the 17th century Polish commonwealth, the gentry refused to pay taxes or abide by any of the laws they passed that ruled the rest of their country. The result: What was then one of the strongest entities in Central Europe began a long decline culminating in one-hundred years time with their country being wiped of the map as their neighboring empires carved up their increasingly weak territory.
I'm not implying this will happen to South Africa, but when you have little to no tax revenues and an entire class of people who are able to pay but feel they are above paying their share, this is a recipe for disaster.
79
everyone's definition of "their share" is debatable. the argument that the top 1% should bear 80% of the burden is as problematic as the 20% living in poverty should bear any burden.
nation building requires support from everyone and the support is not limited to taxes.
19
That is why my argument for a 2% tax on all income beyond $20K, with NO deductions whatsoever, is, in my opinion, and equitable share for all. Thereby, someone with a $100Million annual income will pay $2 Million in tax; a person with a $10 thousand income, will pay nothing after the $20K personal deduction.
1
But if the top 1% gets 80% of the income...
Nation-building requires facing economic reality.
Isn't this the principle Justice Brandeis enunciated? Government sets the example for all citizens.
The same thing applies to gun control. If you want a disarmed population then begin by disarming the police and the military.
7
It’s always the money.
Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. But when you add money to the mix it’s overwhelming. It is so sad to see Nelson Mandela’s legacy turn out to this. Too often in Africa even elected leaders who themselves come from humble beginnings see the elevation to power as a mandate to suddenly become oppressive to their own people. They cannot help themselves.
82
It's not just Africa. We can look locally for plenty of examples of government officials enriching themselves at taxpayer expense.
6
Mr. Zuma was elected democratically like Mr. T. They can be associated with their efforts to profit in their choice of activities, business or politics, by removing relevant heads of departments within executive branch.
24
Though worlds apart in so many ways, the culture of South Africa, Russia and other countries that had decades of authoritarian rule show that democracy is a major challenge to uphold.
Some post-authoritarian nations, ( i.e. post WWII Japan and Germany) made the transition very well. The challenge for South Africa and others is to try to emulate that transition.
47
to Kevin: No way. No "progressive" African pol will emulate countries that are daily condemned as neo-colonialists, whether it is true or not. They want to go their own way, which is the road to starvation, violence and non-governability.
Few in Africa are free from this disease.
10
The challenge to America is turning back the authoritarianism of Obama and to return to the rule of law.
2
Will the US make the transition to democracy? I wonder.
4