Zille on tax revolt: 'We have to stop the theft of public money'

Helen Zille yesterday took to Twitter threatening that if those implicated in the Zondo commission of inquiry aren't prosecuted in a reasonable time, she would organise a tax revolt.

CAPE TOWN - Western Cape Premier, Helen Zille, says "unless the corrupt are brought to justice within a reasonable amount of time, we have to look for accountability mechanisms that actually work one of these is a form of tax revolt."

Zille yesterday took to Twitter threatening that if those implicated in the Zondo commission of inquiry aren't prosecuted in a reasonable time, she would organise a tax revolt.

Much of my reading over the next few months will be filled with case studies of successful tax revolts, internationally, and the lessons we can learn from them. — Helen Zille (@helenzille) January 26, 2019

Did you know that, in the 21st Century, there have been over 80 case studies of impactful tax revolts. More than double that in the 20th C. But given that we are only in first fifth of this Century, the trend is clearly escalating because it introduces ACCOUNTABILITY in govt. — Helen Zille (@helenzille) January 26, 2019

It would actually be useful if the twitterati who are so outraged about my proposal for a #TaxRevolt to curb corruption, demonstrated similar outrage against corruption and made alternative proposals to deal with it, instead of voting for criminals. Again. — Helen Zille (@helenzille) January 27, 2019

Zille says there is already a tax revolt underway in the country.

“For example, there are many local authorities who refuse to pay money to Eskom for the service Eskom delivers. That is a tax revolt worth billions in South Africa.”

The premier says the tax revolt should ultimately lead to more services for the poor and better redistribution.

“We have willingly paid taxes because we believe that it will cross-subsidise services for the poor. Now, so much is getting stolen by the ANC and by the government that we have to put a stop to that. The long-term impact is to stop the theft of public money, not to stop services to the poor.”

The Democratic Alliance's stance on this issue is yet known.