Where is the outrage?

When comparing voters of the various political parties in South Africa, it becomes apparent that there is a minority who are outraged at the profligacy of government. The majority however seem to be completely apathetic about how tax money is stolen, mis-spent or wasted.

In a rough estimate, about sixty five percent of the voting public seem uncaring of how government mismanages the fiscus and about thirty percent are furious with the blatant theft and corruption that permeates everything from school meals to nuclear power plants.

I believe the reasons for this are two-fold.

Firstly, with the social grant system, government rewards those who are not currently “employed” by them. This subsidy to the unemployed is the formal distribution of unearned riches to the voting cattle that make up a large part of that sixty five percent.

Another unspoken, but real subsidy to their voting public is the attitude government has towards crime.

The implicit conversation with their voters goes along the lines : If we cant supply you with a government job or a social grant, you are welcome to take whatever you like through burglary and robbery. Rape and murder being collateral perks that can be enjoyed during this enrichment process.

This cozy unspoken pact among the sixty five percent is re-enforced by the general belief that the tax revenue in question is obtained exclusively from the white man.

This belief is further re-enforced by the press and social media proclaiming loudly and often, that thirty percent of the population supports the rest.

What is happening is; not only does the government get the kudos for supporting their voter base through redistribution of money extracted from the rich, but they get further praise for sticking it to Whitey at the same time.

Is it any wonder that the ANC maintains its popularity despite its pitiful record of delivery of any kind of service to the public?

How can opposition parties fight this massive and unproductive re-distribution machine?

The obvious remedy is to offer more than the government is offering at present.

This short sighted route to bankruptcy has already been seized by the EFF in the guise of running business as usual, but in addition, they will confiscate the land from Whitey and give that to their supporters too.

This upping the ante has been very successful and it has created the countries fastest growing political party.

What is left for any other party who wishes to make inroads into that sixty five percent?

I believe the opposition has missed a trick in not educating the public about where the money being stolen actually comes from.

Instead of re-enforcing the common belief that it all comes from the rich Whiteys, opposition needs to educate the voting cattle about how much of their money finds its way into the government coffers, only to be lifted out again by light fingered politicians.

VAT forms a large portion of tax revenue and it is fairly color-blind. This means that the sixty five percent are contributing a huge amount of the VAT revenue to government.

Petrol levies, road taxes, alcohol and tobacco surcharges are all disproportionately paid by the unaware sixty five percent.

Once they are made aware that their money is simply being re-circulated back to them, with a very significant portion raked off by government corruption, they may start becoming more indignant. An indignant voter is a switchable voter.

No one, even the most ignorant person, perhaps especially the most ignorant, like to be made a fool of.

The voting cattle of South Africa need to be shown how they are being taken for a ride. Only then, will it become possible to allow voters to pull themselves up by their own bootstraps and begin healing this very sick country.