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The Federation of Unions of South Africa (FEDUSA) calls on Minister Pravin Gordhan and National Treasury to spend the hard-earned taxes paid by workers in a wise and prudent fashion. There are many examples of poor planning and investment, such as the recent debacle around President Jacob Zuma’s private jet, which are causes of great concern.

Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan yesterday joined the South African Revenue Service (SARS) campaign to encourage taxpayers to file their tax returns for the past financial year. While FEDUSA supports SARS and its commendable history of collecting taxes and making it easier for taxpayers to file, it remains concerned about the ways Government spends the heard-earned money paid over by workers.

“We appreciate the hard work done by SARS to collect taxes from workers and businesses, and we are especially grateful for useful tools like eFiling which makes the process easier”, said FEDUSA General Secretary Dennis George. “However, we remain concerned that this efficiency is not mirrored in government spending. There have been numerous cases in the recent past where the ineptitude of government officials have reached the covers of our newspapers, and the current debacle about the President’s private jet is the last straw.””

“We are very concerned about the fact that Government fails to pay their suppliers within the stipulated and agreed 30 days after receiving verified invoices. This failure has serious consequences for SMMEs and job creation in general. It is ironic that government officials are not held accountable for slow processing and late payments while taxpayers are threatened with interest and penalties for late submissions to SARS”, added George.

“As representatives of South African workers, we ask Minister Gordhan to spend our money wisely. We work hard for our money and we expect Treasury to treat our contribution to our country with the necessary respect”, said George.