𝕻𝖗𝖊𝖙𝖙𝖞 𝖌𝖆𝖓𝖌𝖘𝖙𝖆

A superstar

[des 🧟‍♀️ @spookydoobies]

general public is just not educated enough on how sexual trauma effects a person

[TommyNFG @tommynfg_]

This is propaganda from older generations ong we don’t give a fuck

[YvesSaintLerao 🇿🇦💎 @tman3000_]

Traffic is such a breeze when schools are closed. If we all stopped having kids, mornings could be like this forever. Let's unite and build a traffic free South Africa together, guys

[Toye @_Toye_]

How do people get convinced that they’ll be able to get drugs past security?

[Mihlali @Mihlali__]

Akere people want to see how they looked like in the 80s via AI.

[vuyi qotoyi @justvuyi_]

Another thing is that I need you guys to actually get into politics. We need qualified councillors, MMCs, mayors and support staff. We need ministers and leaders who care about this country. We actually need ordinary people to be invested in politics.

[Guten Tag chile @AceRedBand1t]

Yall don’t wanna do a tax strike, debt strike, rent strike. Nothing.

Don’t wanna boycott airlines. Don’t wanna pirate streaming services.

Don’t wanna do anything but whine and then whine some more when nothing changes.

[𝔯𝔦𝔤𝔥𝔱𝔢𝔬𝔲𝔰 𝔥𝔢𝔞𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔫 𓆩♱𓆪 @intrstellarzara]

niggas only remember religion when it’s time to be homophobic lmao

[lala karda$h 𝜗ৎ @btchimperfect]

when the topic is sexual assault but blk ppl can only talk about who’s gay or not

[Mpho @RamaphiriMpho]

No man the current government is beyond evil

[Khangisa (Prof. ) @Siyakhangisa]

48%.

That is the effective tax burden on someone earning R30,000 a month in South Africa. Same rate as someone earning R432,000 a month in a top European country.

The numbers sound wrong. They are not.

​​Where the 48% comes from.​​

PAYE is what people see on the payslip. It is not the whole picture.

VAT - 15% on almost everything. Every swipe. Every fill-up. Most people do not think of VAT as a tax. It is the largest single source of government revenue after income tax.

Fuel levy - built into every litre. Petrol at R26.92 inland includes roughly R3.80 in fuel levy and Road Accident Fund levy. That is a tax on getting to work.

Then there are the charges that look like fees but function like taxes. E-tolls. Municipal surcharges. Electricity tariffs with embedded levies.

Add the visible and the invisible - you get 48%.

​​The key difference with Europe.​​

In the Netherlands. In Denmark. In Germany. High taxes come with a social contract.

Free tertiary education. Universal healthcare that does not require medical aid. Childcare subsidies. Paid parental leave that covers an actual year. Robust unemployment support.

You pay 45%. And you get services back.

In South Africa you pay 48%. And then you pay again - privately.

Medical aid because public healthcare is collapsed. Security because policing is broken. Private schools because public education cannot be trusted. Solar panels or a generator because Eskom cannot guarantee power. Water tanks because the municipality cannot guarantee supply.

The middle-class earner pays twice. Once in tax. Once in escape.

​​Who actually pays.​​

There are about 8.3 million personal income taxpayers in South Africa. A relatively small slice of the population. The top earners supply most of the revenue.

Corporations optimise. The wealthy structure. Offshore trusts. Semigration. Emigration. The R30,000 earner cannot escape - it comes out before they see the money.

The base is narrow. The burden is concentrated. The services are not.

​​Why it accumulated this way.​​

No one designed this system. It grew.

Income tax funds the general budget. VAT funds the general budget. Fuel levy funds roads and the general budget. Each mechanism made sense when it was introduced. Each one expanded quietly.

Raising income tax visibly upsets people. Raising VAT is less visible - it is embedded in the price. Raising fuel levy is buried in the pump price. Municipal charges are non-negotiable.

The objective was not fairness to the middle class. It was revenue extraction with minimum political friction.

​​The uncomfortable part.​​

This is not a policy failure. It is a policy success. The system extracts efficiently. It offends quietly. And the people who carry it do not have the means to opt out.

The question is not whether 48% is too high.

It is how long the R30,000 earner can pay twice - once in tax and once in escape - before something breaks.

[Y. @yogits___]

women receive more shame for
consensual sex than men do for rape btw

[Gustavo. @LordVizo__]

Everything costs more than R100 😭.

You’ll take a packet of Lays, a chocolate and a small drink, Total: R131 😭

No ways.

[🦢 @Fairyuxfhe]

"False rape cases are ruining men's lives.”

Even real rape cases aren't ruining men's lives……

[John Goliath @JohnGoliath82]

How do we wake up on a Sunday morning in South Africa to the news of 27 people shot dead in two seperate mass shootings - 17 in Johannesburg and 10 Cape Town - and just go about our day as per normal? Watching the Proteas and the Boks with a beer? This can’t be the new normal.

[Prussian’s spy report on Marx @Phixx23]

This is what happens when you forgive crimes against humanity… and people will say “you guys must move on”. The people who stripped our parent and grandparents of their dignity and life are running for office.

[🍔 @gfctone]

This is a random civilian at this point

[🐰𝐿𝒾𝓁𝓁𝓎 🪷 @belleofthebun]

@velcrolezbo God delivered them from the grave so that chris brown could highlight their marital freakiness. What a time to be alive

[𝔏𝔢𝔩𝔬 🥷🏾🇿🇦 @KingPumza]

There is a serial killer who’s specifically targeting women

And niggas wanna start a gender war because women are complaining online about the fact that they’re the targets