Who is our opposition anyway?

Brace yourself, South Africa, VAT is increasing by half a percentage point on 1 May.

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‘The implications for the average household is clear: more pressure on strained budgets. What is less clear is whether this increase serves the public interest or merely papers over years of fiscal mismanagement.

‘There is little that can be done to halt the increase in the short term. But it is worth asking how we got here — and who brought us along.

Tax has become a political tool, wielded not for the good of the country but to mask the failings of those entrusted with the public purse.

South Africans have, in recent years, looked beyond the ANC in hope of finding new voices capable of holding the line on spending and corruption. Instead, what they have received is a bewildering capitulation and weak opposition.