As individuals we feel great connection with those alive and those who have gone before us. Our task is greater and far more difficult than theirs was. It is for this reason that it is often said that the rest of those who have gone before us cannot still the unrest of those to follow. The awareness that comes with this and many other issues need to be given a voice. There are issues of integrity, compliance, corporate governance, taxes, fairness, transparency, fraud etc. The CFT is the financial watchdog but watchdog for whom. We can read where the CFT is advising government to settle their arrears with the SZV and the APS. The question that begs to be asked here is “What about arrears in tax refunds to individuals and companies? Not making assessments because they will lead to refunding tax-payers can never be proper. Is this the only way to curb government expenditures? Are these refunds really expenditures? These refunds represent undeniable rights and government should lead by example. Those refunds once given timely can help drive the local economy. We would like the CFT to wade into this issue. Failing to do so is nothing less than ostrich politics, after all the CFT is all about financial projections and should not be allowed to wade into issues that they the CFT is comfortable with. All these issues and the way they are approached are eating away at the fabric of our society. They are preventing people from having a better life. This decay or lack of true progress is altering our standard of living and thinking. Many of us are trying to cope with this awareness. In this sense government has failed us tremendously. We should be able to look towards government for leadership and the fostering of greater awareness. Perhaps the curriculums for the various schools can reflect this need.
Presently it would appear that politicians are thinking how to make the biggest impact in the upcoming elections. They see like some of us the trees in the midst of the forest. It is all green. On closer inspection there are dead trees in between, but because of the distance between the people and the politicians everything appears green. The politicians should draw closer and see for their selves the amount of deadwood that is lying around. In standing between the deadwoods the politicians, at least some of them, will observe that the leaves are not growing like they should. Once the politicians have taken the time to mingle with the deadwood perhaps they can explain to us why the leaves have grown as they have.
John A. Richardson on behalf of the Pythagoras-group.
